


Children of the Stones

by ChaosofGreed



Series: Children of the Stones [1]
Category: Children of the Stones
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Gen, Magic, Multi, Original Characters - Freeform, Original Story - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-04-06 15:05:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 145,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4226415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaosofGreed/pseuds/ChaosofGreed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Adventures of Flynn Fleischer, in a world where great stones grant magical powers to those around them. Only Guardians can use magic outside of the cities, by carrying pieces of the stones with them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Adventure Begins

Chapter 1: An Adventure Begins 

Flynn fought to get even a glimpse of the excitement through the crowd. He was only thirteen, and small for his age at that. The adults towered over him, and it was hard to maneuver through the dense wall of bodies. He could hear the crowd “ooh”-ing and “ah”-ing in excitement, and he wanted nothing more than to see what was so enticing as to have attracted nearly every able-bodied person in this section of the lower ring. He looked around for any way to get higher. He saw a rope dangling from a building, it looked like the worker on the roof had tied it down to take a break from his job hauling boxes up, in order to see the sights for himself. Flynn ran to the wall and hopped up, grabbing the rope and hefting himself above the crowd. He looked out and couldn’t help but smile. The whole world was before him, it seemed. The breeze in his hair, the sun on his face, the crowd below and the sky above. After a moment he remembered why he came up there in the first place and looked down into the crowd. There was a small stage set up, which seemed to be the center of the commotion. The first thing that caught his eye was the boy running the show. He had never seen anyone like him. He looked about Flynn’s age, but his hair was curly and pale and bright like gold, and his eyes were a matching yellow. He wore a peculiar outfit, a tunic and breeches outfitted with hunks of metal like Flynn had never see before. Deep, shining browns and yellows, not like the cold grey iron in the city. He had what appeared to be an odd pair of spectacles on his head, also made of the strange brown metal, and held on his head by a leather strap. His belt had all sorts of trinkets and accessories hanging from it that Flynn couldn’t even begin to imagine what they were used for. On his right hand he wore a black glove, and Flynn noticed a small yellow glimmer on the back of his hand before he moved and it was out of his view. The boy was cute and had a charismatic smile as he spoke. Flynn was too far away and the crowd was too loud for him to hear what he was saying, but he didn’t need to, just seeing it was enough for him. He had a series of strange contraptions set up on the stage, all made from the same metals that adorned his clothes. He held out his hand towards one of the small contraptions, it looked like a metal ball with arms and legs, sitting lifelessly. Lightning shot from his fingertips into the contraption, the crowd cheered and gasped. The eyes of the little ball person began to glow and it stood up. It waved. And it began to dance. Flynn couldn’t believe his eyes. He couldn’t fathom how anything he just saw could be possible.  
“Flynn, what are you doing up there?” A familiar voice called.  
Flynn looked down and saw Damun standing beneath him with his cocky smirk. He was older than Flynn, in his mid-twenties he thought. He had long, straight red hair and orange eyes like the heart of a fire. He was wearing his knight’s casual garb and his sword on his hip. People always said the two looked like they could be brothers, but Flynn’s hair was always a mess and Damun was always well groomed. Besides, Flynn was a street rat from the lowest ring and Damun was a knight from the middle ring. Flynn jumped down, forcing Damun to catch him as Flynn’s arms wrapped around him in a hug. “Damun! When did you get back!?”  
“Just an hour or so ago,” Damun laughed, setting Flynn down, “don’t worry, I came to see you first thing.” He looked at the crowd. “So what’s going on here?’  
“You wouldn’t believe it!” Flynn said excitedly, “There’s this kid my age with golden hair and eyes, and he can shoot lightning from his hands and make little metal creatures move!”  
Damun smiled. “Well well, that really does sound interesting. I heard something about a traveler from Topal being in town, that must be him. Not common to get foreigners around here that aren’t just traders.”  
“What’s Topal?”  
“You might know it better as the Nation of Lightning. Another city with a magic stone like ours, but theirs holds the power of lightning, not fire.”  
Flynn’s eyes widened, “there are other magic stones besides the Ruby?”  
Damun nodded. “At least five that I know of. And each one is the center of a city, just like ours. And every one has a different power.”  
Flynn couldn’t believe it. He could barely imagine being able to see the Ruby, or use its power, but there were even more stones? Being born in the lower ring, the farthest from the Ruby, the magic here was weak. If he went to the wall separating the lower ring from the middle ring he could sometimes light a candle on a sunny day, but that was the extent of what he had felt himself. He heard that in the upper ring people could breathe fire, or shoot it from their hands. Some say the possibilities are endless up there, but that was all just a dream to Flynn.  
“So what’s say you and me go spar for a bit?” Damun asked with a smile. “We can catch each other up on everything that’s gone on while I’ve been gone.“ Flynn nodded excitedly and the two of them left for their usual sparring grounds.  
Flynn had met Damun six years ago. Damun was coming back from an expedition and was passing through the lower ring. Flynn had approached him with a stick and challenged him to a battle. The sight of seeing a seven year old holding a stick challenging him to a duel had made him laugh out loud. Flynn was furious, but Damun accepted. He didn’t go easy on him. He defeated him before Flynn even knew the battle had begun. But Damun smile at him with that cocky smile of his and offered his hand to the fallen boy. From that day forward Damun had begun teaching Flynn the art of swordplay. Flynn had challenged him because his dream was to become a knight like him. Not just a knight, but a Guardian of the Ruby. Stone Guardians were few and far between, but they were the most legendary warriors in the city. And Damun was the youngest among them. Guardians were given a piece of the stone to carry with them, making them the only people who could use magic outside of the city walls. In Damun’s case he had a gold band around his arm with a blood-red ruby embedded in it. It was entrancing to look at, and no matter how many times Flynn asked to use it Damun simply shook his head and said it was too dangerous, or Flynn was too young, or only a real Guardian could use it and he would have to earn his own. Damun was the closest thing Flynn had to family, and the two had grown close over the years. Whenever Damun came back from an adventure he always told Flynn of the amazing things he’d come across. Giant beasts and great mountains, rushing rivers and vast caverns, and Flynn always told Damun of the much more mundane things that had happened in his life, but Damun always listened as though Flynn were telling his own stories about slaying great and magical beasts. 

Damun wiped his brow with a towel after their sparring was done. Damun always ended the matches sweaty, breathing heavily, Flynn on the other hand, always felt like he were moments from death. Every inhale sent a sharp pain through his body and he could barely move, but he was always happy. Being able to spar with a real Guardian was more than he ever could have expected. “You’re getting pretty good,” Damun said as he stuck his head under a water spout. Aching, shuddering and close to tears of pain, Flynn found that hard to believe, but he still appreciated the compliment. “You want to be a Guardian one day, right?”  
“Yeah,” Flynn managed to choke out as he sat up slowly and carefully.  
“Y’know, I could always use a squire. Haven’t found a recruit I like enough yet. I think you’d do a good job.”  
Flynn couldn’t say anything. He was speechless. No matter how hard he tried nothing came out of his mouth.  
‘If you’d rather not that’s fine too,” Damun shrugged.  
“Yes!” Flynn screamed finally. “Yes, I’ll be your squire!”  
“Oh good,” Damun grinned, “I was worried you wouldn’t want to do it.”

“They’re not letting me stay in too long this time,” Damun explained as he was eating with Flynn that night. They were having stale bread and stew. Flynn could only afford stew when Damun was here. Flynn frowned. He hated when Damun was away. “Hey, don’t go looking so sad on me, what did I tell you? Remember-”  
Flynn smiled. “To smile.”  
When they had first met Flynn never smiled. He was always miserable. He wanted to be a knight and resented being no more than a street rat. The world was unfair. He was born in the slums, had no parents, there was no reason for him to smile. But once Damun started teaching him he always reminded him to smile. At first it was a combat technique. Damun said he always liked to smile when he was fighting. It put the opponent off when you were grinning like you were just playing a game, but then Damun realized that Flynn only smiled while they were sparring. He started reminding him to smile in daily life, telling him that no matter where you were or what was going on there would always be a reason to smile. If nothing else just look up at the sky and smile because it’s a beautiful sight, or because the world is still turning.   
“Anyways,” Damun continued, “there’s no reason for you to mope, because I’m taking you with me this time.”  
“Really!?” Flynn exclaimed excitedly.  
Damun nodded with his confident grin. “You’re what, thirteen now? I think that’s more than old enough. And like I said, from now on you’re my squire, so you’re expected to join me when I go out, right?”  
“Do you really think I’m ready?”  
Damun ruffled Flynn’s already messy hair, “yeah, I do, kid.” He stood up and brushed the crumbs off his pants. “I’ll be back tomorrow to pick you up and we’ll head out, be ready to go.”

Flynn waited patiently by the gate to the middle ring the next day. Now that he was Damun’s squire it would have been nice if he could go into the middle ring himself, but he knew he couldn’t. Everyone said it was dangerous. For someone who had never used magic before to have magical abilities so suddenly could result in disaster. That’s why once you’re born into a ring you stay there forever, unless there’s some incredible circumstance. Damun had tried on multiple occasions to petition for Flynn to move to the middle ring with him, but it was always shut down immediately. Damun once even offered to move to the lower ring, but Flynn insisted he didn’t, because he knew his status as a knight and a guardian would be revoked. Flynn didn’t really mind it too much. He was used to living in squalor and filth. He’d been in the lower ring his whole life. The streets were filthy, half the population was homeless, people died of disease or starvation on a daily basis, but in the end it was home, despite how awful a home it was. But now he would be able to leave it, no matter how brief a retreat it was. He would finally see the world outside these walls. The world Damun was always telling him stories of. It took everything he had in him to not scream and dance around in excitement as he waited. He didn’t want the guards to think he was crazy. At one point when neither of the guards were looking at him he flailed around wildly to get some of his excess energy out. One of them turned around, but he was pretty sure they didn’t see.   
After what seemed like hours of waiting Damun finally came through the gates. He was wearing his light armor he wore when going out on his adventures. Some knights wore heavy iron armor, but he preferred leather, as it allowed him more mobility. It was dyed a deep red and the cloth of his tunic and cape were bright red and grey. His right sleeve, as always, was rolled up a bit to show the ruby and gold bracelet around his wrist. He was leading two horses, one smaller than the other, but both carrying heavy bags on their saddles. The bigger one was a black stallion, strong and durable, and Flynn recognized it as Shadow, Damun’s favorite horse. The other was younger, grey and white, though still looked strong in its own right. Damun approached Flynn and handed him the reigns of the grey horse. This is Storm, she’ll be your horse from now on, take care of her, alright?” Flynn looked at Storm and couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. Damun had pulled some strings to bring Shadow to the lower ring before and taught Flynn to ride, but now he had his very own horse. With Storm he could go anywhere.  
“Hi, Storm,” He said softly, “I’m Flynn, nice to meet you.” He laid his hand on her nose and she nickered lightly. Flynn giggled, then, realizing knights probably shouldn’t giggle he tried to turn it into a manly chuckle and ended up making a strange sound that simply made Damun laugh.   
“One more thing,” Damun said as he rummaged through Shadow’s saddlebag. “If you’re going to be my squire you need to look the part.” He produced a bundle of clothes and handed them to Flynn. They were the nicest clothes he had ever owned. The tunic was grey and red to match Damun’s, and the breeches were dark brown with a red tint. Hidden within the bundle of clothes was a dagger. Flynn looked up at Damun with wide eyes. “I’ll keep you out of the danger as best I can, but I want you to have some way to protect yourself. Now go get changed, we have a lot of traveling to do today.”

The clothes were soft but sturdy and Flynn had trouble not grinning like an idiot as he rode Storm behind Damun and Shadow. It was a ride Damun took all the time, and Flynn had watched every time, but this was his first time on this side of the crowd. People were shouting, cheering for their guardian. Cheering for Flynn. They couldn’t tell who he was, they just knew he was with the Guardian, and that was all that mattered. They approached the gate, and at Damun’s command the guards opened it. Damun rode Shadow out and looked back, smiling at Flynn. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and urged Storm forward, stepping out into a whole new world.


	2. Trial By Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flynn and Damun leave Ruban, and Flynn finally gets a taste of the outside world and the dangers it can have.

Chapter 2: Trial by Fire

It was more beautiful than he could have ever imagined. There were plains of grass dotted with trees as far as he could see. Flynn had never seen anything so green. The sun touched it all, unimpeded by the shadows cast by walls or towers. The sky was a beautiful blue with a few fluffy clouds floating above them. The smells were sweet and refreshing compared to the stench of the city. The wind rushed past him and he suddenly felt he finally knew what it was like to be alive. After a moment or two of staring in wonder, Flynn realized that Damun was waiting for him with a smile on his face. He trotted forward to line up Storm walking beside Shadow.  
“Too much for you?” Damun asked with a grin.  
“It’s amazing!” Flynn exclaimed, a little more excitedly than he would have liked to. He hurriedly changed his tone, hoping to seem more professional. “What’s our mission this time?”  
“We’re looking into some attacks that happened near a town about a day’s ride from here.”  
“Attacks?”  
“Well, more like people going missing,” Damun explained. “Either way, the world outside the walls can be a dangerous place, and as Guardians it’s our job to make sure the roads out here are safe to travel on. There are all sorts of terrifying creatures and bandits to deal with.”  
Flynn nodded. He had heard Damun’s stories, he had an idea of what to expect. He couldn’t help but notice that Damun had said “we.” Whether he was referring to the two of them or the Guardians as a collective he was unsure, but he was determined to prove himself as Guardian material. He gripped the hilt of his dagger. He had put it on his belt, matching Damun’s sword on his hip. “Tell me- um, what else do we know about the missing people?”  
Damun shook his head, “Not much. Just that ten people either coming or going from the town have disappeared in the last month. We’re headed to the town in hopes of finding out more, we’ll make a more concrete plan from there.”  
Flynn nodded. They rode for a few minutes before a thought came into Flynn’s head. “If it’s so dangerous out here why don’t all the people in the towns move to the city?”  
“You’ve seen the lower ring,” Damun said gravely, “there isn’t room anymore. The lower ring is overpopulated like that because so many outsiders wanted to find refuge in the city. I’ve heard stories that a hundred or so years ago the lower ring was actually a fairly nice place to live. At this point people would rather live out here than bear being homeless and hungry in the lower ring.”  
Looking around, Flynn couldn’t help but agree. It was beautiful out here. Even if there were monsters roaming the fields it was better than living in the lower ring. Flynn was lucky to have survived as long as he had. Monsters were nothing compared to disease and starvation. 

It had been a few hours of riding before they began to see any of the animals Flynn had heard so much about. Damun pointed them out as they went. Deer, Zebras, Horses, Cows. They all seemed so gentle and docile. “You need to be careful, though,” Damun cautioned, “these animals are prey to bigger, scarier beasts. And the predators will attack us just as quickly if they’re hungry enough. About ten minutes later he pointed one out. A pack of wolves were chasing down a deer. They jumped on it and took it down, tearing into its flesh and gorging themselves. “And those are just wolves. They’re small, but come in packs. Let’s hope we don’t run into anything worse.”  
Unfortunately, they did. Perhaps a half hour later a large beast erupted from the wooded area a few hundred yards to their left. It stood on four massive clawed paws holding a strong, thick body. It had a long swaying tail on its back and on its head it had tusks and a trunk snaking out. “Tiphant,” Damun called out, “stay back!”  
Flynn pulled up the reigns and pulled Storm back as Damun and Shadow rushed forward. The beast was at least three times the size of Shadow, but still Damun and his stallion rode on without a hint of hesitation. As they neared, the beast roared. Damun jumped from his horse and extended his right arm. A ball of fire erupted from his hand and hit the Tiphant in the face. The beast recoiled, stumbling back as its fur smoldered. Flynn had never seen magic used like that before, and his mouth was agape as he watched. Still in the air, Damun drew his sword with his left hand and slammed it down on the shoulder of the monster. It crumpled down, unable to carry its own weight, but quickly shifted and pulled back, bringing itself up on its remaining three useful limbs. It swung its tusks out at Damun but the knight brought up his sword and the tusk slid harmlessly past with a shrill screeching sound as the ivory hit metal. Damun brought his right hand up under the Tiphant’s chin and slammed his open palm into the creature, sending out a pulse of fire. It pulled back, baring its throat, and Damun used both hands to drive his sword through the throat, going straight through, all the way out the other side of its neck.  
“That was amazing!” Flynn called, galloping towards Damun as he was cleaning his blade. “One day will I be able to do things like that?”  
“Maybe, if you practice enough,” Damun replied. “You shouldn’t be so excited about taking lives. It’s necessary to preserve our own lives, but you should always remember the weight of your actions.”  
Flynn frowned. He did. He shouldn’t have seemed so excited. He looked like a foolish child now. “I’m-”  
“Don’t worry about it,” Damun smiled. “Remember the weight of your action, but always remember-”  
“To smile!” Flynn laughed.  
“Alright, kiddo,” Damun said, mounting Shadow, “let’s go a little farther tonight, there’s a pond up ahead, it’ll be a good place to camp.”

The pond was small, but the water was fresher than Flynn had ever tasted. They were in a small wooded glen surrounded by tall trees. It was beautiful and peaceful. The sun was beginning to set, and Damun had told Flynn to take the first watch, it would be less dangerous than the late-night watch. He had said to wake him once night came in full, or if anything happened, he didn’t want Flynn getting hurt. Flynn took his job very seriously. The sun set and the moon and stars came out, but nothing worrisome happened. Flynn decided he could extend his watch a little longer and let Damun sleep. He stared at the stars and smiled. It was funny how it was the same sky he saw in the city when everything else was so different. He heard a rustling and his head shot towards the noise. He stood up carefully and approached. He saw two glowing yellow eyes staring back at him. The wolf loped forward and bared its fangs. It was one wolf, Flynn could take it. Damun had been training him for years.   
He drew his dagger. Upon seeing the metal sheen the wolf lunged forward. Flynn moved to stab it but something was wrong. His dagger was in his left hand- he had put it on his right hip without thinking, copying Damun, but Damun was left-handed, Flynn wasn’t. He barely managed to dodge the wolf’s attack, and quickly tried to switch his dagger to his right hand. The wolf lunged again, Flynn dodged the brunt of the attack but the jaws of the beast snapped down near his hands and his dagger fell to the grass. Flynn scrambled for it and the wolf pounced on his back. The wolf’s vicious growl suddenly turned into a whimper as it was forcefully removed from his back, sent flying into a nearby tree with a flash of light and heat.  
“Get out of there!” Damun yelled. He was rushing towards the fight, sword drawn, ruby still glowing from the spell. Flynn tried to run, but quickly realized that the wolf had not been alone. Three more wolves came out of the woods towards him. Damun saw as well and altered his course to put himself between the wolves and Flynn. He swung his sword and slashed out the eyes of two of them in an instant, the third lunged and sunk its teeth into his arm. Without flinching Damun sent flames from his arm into the maw of the wolf, burning its throat and sending it flailing to the ground. Wounded and beaten the pack of wolves ran back into the woods, squealing for mercy.   
Damun cleaned his blade and turned to Flynn. “I told you to wake me when night came, I also told you to tell me if anything happened.”  
Flynn looked at him. He was mad, he could tell, despite it not showing on his face. And his arm. His left arm was covered in blood. Tears brimmed in Flynn’s eyes. It was his fault Damun was hurt. If he had done as he was told Damun would have seen the wolves first, he would have been safe. He only got hurt because he was protecting him. “I’m sorry!” He cried, tears rolling down his cheeks. “I just wanted to be helpful, I-”  
Damun hugged him with his good arm. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you’re safe. From now on just listen to me, okay?” He pulled away, smiling. “Don’t cry, there’s no reason to cry. We’re both alive, right?”  
“But your arm-”  
“Will heal. Now what did I tell you? Remember-”  
“To smile,” Flynn said somberly.  
“Hey, I said you have to listen to me from now on. I want a real smile kiddo!”  
Flynn couldn’t help it when Damun acted like that, he cracked a smile.  
“There we go,” Damun grinned, ruffling his hair. “Now do me a favor, in Shadow’s saddlebag there should be some bandages and leaves. Get them for me so I can tend to this. Flynn nodded dutifully and ran off the retrieve the supplies. He would do anything he could.

The next day they managed to reach the town by midday. It was small and quaint, not at all like the city. There were no walls, and in and around the town there was more packed dirt than grass on the ground from where the townspeople had been walking for decades. There were surprisingly few people there upon their entrance, but they could hear a commotion more near the center of town. They went to see what all the commotion was about.  
Upon reaching the crowd Flynn saw the same boy with curly golden hair that he had seen in the slums, with the same stage and the same contraptions set up. This time he was wearing a top hat with his strange spectacles around his neck, and a coat. “That’s the boy!” Flynn whispered to Damun excitedly, “the same one I saw in the lower ring!”  
Damun smiled. “Interesting.”  
“Welcome, one and all to Atlas Pennycog’s electric circus!” Flynn could hear the boy speaking this time, he commanded authority and attention, despite only being Flynn’s age at most. “You will see things here that will astound and stupefy! Science, magic! Wonder, mystery! So keep your eyes open and your minds working! Watch as I bring a lifeless metal shell to life!” He extended his hand just as he did in the slums and electricity shot from it, striking the round metal creature and bringing it to life. It waved and danced, just as Flynn saw before. The crowd was cheering and screaming in excitement.  
“That’s just the beginning, folks!” Atlas smiled, seeing the wonder on all of their faces. He shocked the rest of his contraptions and they, too, came to life. There was a horse, a monkey, a wolf and a ball with a propeller that took flight. The rest of the show had him orchestrating silly and fun maneuvers with each of the contraptions, each more complicated than the last. From having the person ride the horse, to the monkey riding the horse, to the horse riding the person. They jumped through hoops, the flying one pulled the others into the air, and as the finale he had them all play the parts in a short play as he narrated. Flynn couldn’t follow exactly, but it seemed to be about a son running away from his family and becoming a hero. The kind of story any kid would hear as a fairy tale. “Thank you all for watching!” He shouted once he was done, “Tell your family, tell your friends, tell your enemies, and as always, feel free to tip your wonderful ringmaster!” With a flick of his hand the monkey hopped on his shoulder, pulled off his hat and jumped to the edge of the stage to collect tips.   
Once the crowd had dispersed and the boy was putting his things away Damun and Flynn approached him. “That was quite impressive,” Damun said to him.  
“Thank you very much!” The blond boy smiled, extending his hat. “Did you enjoy it enough to tip?”  
Damun laughed, producing two gold coins from his pouch and putting them into the hat. “My friend here saw you in Ruban in the lower rings just a couple days ago. What brought you out here so quickly?”  
“Oh, he must have caught me on my way out,” Atlas said, “I did a show for the lower ring after I finished my shows in the upper and middle rings.”  
Damun raised an eyebrow. “Really? I feel like I would have heard about that.”  
Atlas shrugged. “Funny, the bits of information we’ll sometimes miss, isn’t it? I don’t mean to seem rude, but I really must finish packing up, I have a strict schedule to keep.”  
“Of course,” Damun said with a smile. “We were just about to head out anyway.”

“Why were you so suspicious of that boy?” Flynn asked. They were in a tavern now. Damun wore a glove, covering his bracelet, and they both wore hoods.  
“Anything out of the ordinary is a potential clue,” Damun explained. “That kid is very out of the ordinary. Clearly from Topal, which is odd this far into Ruban territory. He can use magic, meaning he has a Guardian’s stone, which is very odd at his age. He’s traveling alone, which would be odd no matter what age he was, made more strange by how young he is. And finally, he was lying. He never performed anywhere but the lower ring. If someone who could use magic like that had appeared in the middle or upper rings the Guardians would have been told about it.”  
“Do you think he’s linked to the disappearances?” Flynn asked.  
Damun shook his head. “I don’t have any reason to believe so. But I’d like to keep an eye on him. Though I doubt that he’ll let me now that he knows I’m suspicious.”  
Flynn nodded. “So what’s our next step in our mission?”  
“This,” Damun smiled. “We sit here and listen.”  
“Why are we wearing hoods? And why did you cover up your ruby?”  
“Most people will say a lot to a Guardian,” he explained, “but sometimes it pays to be a fly on the wall. People say things they wouldn’t be comfortable saying to an authority figure, or even things they wouldn’t think to say.”  
Flynn listened intently for hours, but no one was saying much of import. Most of them were talking about Atalas’s circus or their families, or their jobs, or travelers they’d had before. Just when Flynn felt like he was going to fall asleep from boredom Damun got up and gestured from Flynn to come with him.   
They got changed and returned to the town, now as a Guardian and his squire. “That didn’t seem to helpful,” Flynn commented.  
“You’d be surprised at what kind of information is and isn’t helpful,” Damun said, “I now know that Tymun’s cabbages are the best for miles, I know Kara is cheating on her husband with the nighttime bartender. I know that last month a troupe of masked performers passed through, and the month before that there were a group of mercenaries that stayed for two nights. I know that cattle and seeds the next town over are overpriced, but they still get more business because it’s a bigger town.”  
“But none of that stuff seems like it’ll help us.”  
Damun shrugged. “Maybe it won’t, maybe it will. We won’t know until we finish our quest, but information can never hurt.”

The townspeople seemed starstruck upon speaking to Damun. Apparently seeing a Guardian in a small town like this was a big deal. They spent the rest of the day talking to the people. Maybe Damun was right about being a fly on the wall, because they learned even less by talking to people. They really only heard the things they already knew. People were disappearing at night. They had stopped leaving their houses once night fell because if anyone did they disappeared.  
“So what now?” Flynn asked once night had fallen and the citizens returned to their homes.  
“Well, who or whatever is spiriting away these people does their work at night, so we stay up all night and find out what it is.”  
“Where do we start looking?”  
“North.”  
“Why North? There’s just woods up there.”  
“Think about it,” Damun smiled. “the majority of the people who were taken were reported to have been in the woods or liked to visit the woods. Also, the masked troupe went north when they left, while the rest of the travelers took the eastern, western or southern roads. The masked troupe also visited this town a month ago, the same time the disappearances started.”  
Flynn was amazed at how much Damun had managed to put together out of what he had thought was useless information. “So you think the masked troupe is kidnapping people?”  
“Anything out of the ordinary could be a clue,” Damun reminded him. “I don’t know that they have anything to do with it, but it all seems pretty coincidental.”

So they headed north to the woods. It was more than a little scary, the trees were blowing in the wind, but Flynn wouldn’t let it show. He wanted Damun to think he was strong. They walked for a time with little excitement when suddenly Damun stopped. “Listen.” He said quietly.  
Flynn listened. He heard a faint howling sound. “What is that? An animal?” He whispered.  
Damun smiled. “We lucked out. If we had come on another night we wouldn’t have heard it. On a windy night like this caves howl. I’d be willing to bet my sword that that howling is a cave, and a cave in the woods where people are disappearing? Coincidence again? I think not!”  
It wasn’t long before they found the mouth of the cave. It was large, but inconspicuous, surrounded by moss and dirt and trees. If they hadn’t been looking for it they likely wouldn’t have found it. “Stay behind me,” Damun said, “stay out of danger.”  
Flynn nodded. They headed into the cave. It was dark and silent. Damun conjured a small ball of fire in his palm to light the way. The path was long and twisting, but a straight shot, not branching at any point. When they reached a dead end Flynn frowned, but Damun placed his hand on the wall and it passed right through as though nothing was there. “Illusion,” He said, “a false wall.”  
“Is it magic?” Flynn asked.  
“If it is I don’t know where it comes from,” Damun replied.  
They walked through the false wall and entered a large room. The stench caught Flynn first, sending him into a coughing fit, but once he overcame it and looked up at the room he couldn’t look away no matter how much he wanted to. Corpses hung from the ceiling, at least he thought they were corpses, their skin had been flayed off, all that remained were bloody husks. The skins were spread out on the walls with strange symbols drawn on them in blood. The floor was splattered with blood stains, and in the center of the room there was a large symbol like the ones on the wall but more complex. Flynn wanted to vomit, he could feel his bile rising in his throat, tears brimming in his eyes, who could do this? What could do this? Then suddenly he felt a cold, bony hand on the back of his neck, gripping it hard.  
“What are a slave of the stones and his whelp doing here?” The cold, cruel voice said.   
Damun whirled around and shot a bolt of fire over Flynn’s head. The grip of the hand disappeared, and just as Flynn turned he saw a tall, dark, masked figure disappear. He turned again and the figure was next to Damun. It was tall and thin, wearing a robe blacker than darkness itself, and a white, featureless mask under its hood. It raised its hand, a blade of black steel clasped in its grip. Damun barely managed to draw his sword in time to block the attack, wincing from the pain in his bandaged arm.  
“Who are you!” Damun demanded. “Is this your work? What did you do to these people?”  
“So many questions,” the figure hissed, “unfortunately I do not speak to slaves.”  
The figure raised his other hand and the shadows on the floor shot up to attack Damun. He jumped to the side, dodging, but the shadows turned and came straight towards Flynn. Flynn jumped to the side, but the shadows caught his leg, holding him in place, wrapping around. They felt like cold snakes made of smoke on his leg.   
“Flynn!” Damun yelled, turning to see if he was okay.  
“I’m fine!” Flynn insisted, hacking fruitlessly at the shadows with his dagger.  
“Flynn,” The figure said coldly, “the boy is your weakness, slave. Leave him to die and you may kill me. If not…”  
Damun smirked. “My weakness? No, Flynn is strong. He won’t die here, monster.”  
“Perhaps…” He brought down a flurry of blows on Damun. The shadows on the floor were grasping at his legs, making it tough for him to dodge, forcing him to parry the attacks with his wounded arm. “Wounded animals fight harder, do they not? How far near death must I bring you before you give me a challenge?” Damun brought his right hand around towards the mask and conjured a fiery explosion. The figure jumped back, its robes smoldering. Flynn saw now that Damun’s left arm was all but useless. The onslaught had nearly broken it. His grip on his sword was weak and blood trickled from the bandages. The mask turned to Flynn, still entrapped in shadows. “Or is your strength brought out in protecting your young?”  
He dashed suddenly towards Flynn. Flynn tried to move out of the way but there was nothing he could do, the shadows had a grip on his legs that he couldn’t break. The black steel blade was coming at him. He raised his dagger in hopes of blocking the attack, but the shadows leaped from the ground and pulled his arm down, baring his chest to the blade. He heard the blade tear through skin. Felt the blood on him- but no pain. He opened his eyes. He hadn’t even realized he had closed them. He saw Damun’s face. He was smiling. Was it all a dream? A nightmare? Blood trickled from Damun’s lips.   
“Now for the boy,” the figure said, removing his sword from Damun’s back.  
“Fuck. Off.” Damun growled, his ruby glowing. Fire erupted from him in a barrier, pushing the figure back and extinguishing the shadows. It held, flickering, keeping them safe from their foe.   
“Damun…” Flynn said, almost whispering. He was crying, he hadn’t realized it but he was crying. “Are you…”  
“Afraid I won’t be okay this time,” Damun grinned before coughing up blood. “I won’t make it, but you can.” He pulled his bracelet off and placed it in Flynn’s hand. “Take this. Run. Live. Stay safe.”  
Flynn shook his head violently, “No, no! Damun, this is yours! You’re the Guardian! I don’t know how to use it! You need to teach me! You have to-”  
“Flynn, you’re strong!” Damun yelled. “You’re so strong. I’ve watched you grow. You’re ready for this. Ready to be a guardian. Ready to…” He trailed off, looking at the ruby. One more thing, Flynn. Us Guardians… When we… when we die, the stone takes us. Everything we are. No matter what, I’ll be with you as long as you hold into this, okay? You may not be able to see me anymore, but remember I’ll always be with you. If you’re ever scared, just look at the stone and know I’m there for you, okay?” He coughed and blood splattered on the floor.  
“Damun, please…”  
“Why are you looking so sad?” Damun smiled, “You’re finally a Guardian. Remember there’s always a bright side. There’s always a reason to smile. Remember…”  
“Damun…” The barrier of fire was fading.  
“Remember…”  
“To smile…”  
As the barrier fell Damun began to glow, and his energy began to rush into the stone in Flynn’s hand. He began to fade, more and more until all that was left was bones and clothes. Damun, the only family that he had ever had was now a pile of bones on the floor in front of him. His eyes were wide, tears falling uncontrollably. He looked at the ruby, glowing with energy- Damun’s energy. He looked up at the figure, advancing forward now. “Seems your Guardian is gone. Now it’s your turn.”  
Flynn screamed. Every part of him screamed. His muscles, his voice, his mind, his energy, flames erupted all around him, painting the walls and floor with embers and shadows. Without thinking he grabbed Damun’s sword off the ground and rushed the masked man, swinging wildly. It was all his fault. If Damun hadn’t been injured protecting him from the wolves he wouldn’t have had to protect him with his body. If Flynn had been stronger he wouldn’t have had to protect him at all. It was all his fault. His fault Damun was gone, but he would survive. He would be strong, just like Damun said he was. The masked figure was easily dodging every slash he brought onto him, but the flames that were continuously bursting from Flynn were scorching him. Finally fed up with the fight the masked man grabbed Flynn’s face with his cold, bony hand, but Flynn brought the ruby bracelet he clutched in his left hand into the figure’s chest. A massive explosion erupted forth, sending the man flying into the wall. The corpses and skin on the walls began to burn furiously. The room was a typhoon of flame as the masked figure writhed in fire. Flynn took a step back- it was time to run, he knew. The masked man saw through the flames and raised his hand. Shadows burst forth to stab at Flynn, but the was a loud BANG and suddenly the mask of the man was shattered in the upper left corner. What looked like smoke began to billow forth from the hole and he clutched his face, screaming.  
“Run!” Flynn heard a familiar voice yell from behind him as a hand grabbed his wrist. He did. He ran and ran and ran. Out of the cave, out of the forest, into the town, into the Inn. Only then did he begin to understand what was going on. The one who had yelled and pulled him was the boy from before. With the golden curls. Atlas. He was in his room at the Inn.   
“Why… how?” Was all Flynn could say.  
“I followed you two,” Atlas replied. I wanted to know what you two were up to… I certainly didn’t expect to see all that.”  
“You were watching the whole time?”  
“More or less. From a distance.”  
“Why didn’t you help?”  
“Y’know, surprisingly enough, I’m not too keen on fighting monster men made of shadows that skin people and decorate their walls with them. Thought I’d stay out of it.”  
“Then why did you save me?”  
“I wish I could tell you,” Atlas sighed, looking at the strange metal contraption he held in his hand. “Something just came over me.”  
“What is that?” Flynn asked absently.  
“This?” He held up the metal object. “A pistol. It fires balls of lead using gunpowder.”  
They sat in silence for a time, Flynn looked at the ruby bracelet in his hands. “Why don’t you put it on?” Atlas asked finally.  
“It’s not mine,” Flynn said quietly.  
“Not to sound insensitive, but your friend isn’t going to be getting much use out of it. He gave it to you, didn’t he?”  
He did. He told him to keep himself safe with it. He told him he was a Guardian now. He slipped it easily over his right hand. It was too big for him. He pulled it higher up his arm. It was most the way up his forearm before it held in place. The ruby sat on his inner arm, over his veins. It seemed to pulse lightly with the coursing of his blood. It felt almost warm. He looked at Atlas’s glove. “Where did you get yours?”  
Atlas looked confused at first, then realized he meant the gemstone embedded in the back of his glove. “My brother. It was his Topaz,” He replied.  
“Oh…” Flynn frowned. “is he…”  
“Dead?” Atlas finished for him, “No, but probably pretty pissed I stole it from him.”  
In any other situation Flynn would want to know more. But now… Now he was just tired. “What now?” He asked.  
“Now we go to sleep and hope that whatever that thing was doesn’t come for us in the night.” he paused. “Or do you mean in life? You could always go home, wherever home is. Or… Or you could come with me.”  
“Where are you going?”  
Atlas shrugged. “Wherever adventure takes me.”  
“Adventure?”  
Atlas smiled. “The world is vast and beautiful, mysterious and unexplored, and I want to explore it.”  
That sounded amazing. He thought back to what home would mean for him. Slums, going hungry, the smell of soil and filth all around him. No friends, no family. He didn’t want to go back. He never wanted to go back. He needed to find out more about that masked man. He needed to avenge Damun. But most of all he needed to do what Damun had told him. He needed to live. Going home wasn’t living. He wanted to experience this world and everything it had to offer. And the other thing Damun had told him. To remember… He smiled. “I want to go with you.”  
Atlas smiled back. “You perked up quick. So, where do you want to go to first?”


	3. Of Lightning and Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flynn and Atlas begin their journey to Emerala, and get to know each other.

Chapter 3: Of Lightning and Fire

“Where were you planning to go next?” Flynn asked the next morning as he and Atlas ate breakfast.  
“I’m not entirely sure,” Atlas replied, spearing a sausage with his fork. “Probably West, but it’s only a guess.”  
“A guess at what?”  
“Where to find the next city,” Atlas explained, “Maps are vague at best, and none that I’ve found encompass more than one region. People don’t travel between cities enough. That’s actually part of why I’m traveling. I want to make the first World Map. One that has every city and every region. Ruban was my first stop after I left Topal, and I plan to find every other Magic City too.”  
“You want to make maps?” Flynn questioned, “what about your circus?”  
Atlas chuckled, “Just a hobby. Gotta make money somehow, adventuring isn’t cheap.” He sliced an egg with his fork and popped half of it into his mouth. “Of course I plan to adventure, too. I can’t fully experience the world through a map. I want to truly understand every land, every city, every region. I’ll make a whole book of maps, detailing the people, creatures, culture, everything you need to know when you get there.”  
A thought came to mind. “Why did you really leave Ruban? Damun said you never performed in the middle or upper rings.”  
Atlas raised an eyebrow. “You want the truth?”  
“Yes.”  
“Well, listen up, because I rarely tell the truth,” he sighed. “it’s actually not an interesting story. I got kicked out for excessive magic use in the lower ring. I was hoping people would be intrigued and I would be invited to the middle or upper rings, but turns out it backfired.”  
“Why did you lie to us before?” Flynn frowned.  
Atlas shrugged. “I lie a lot, you can’t expect me to remember the motives behind every one, can you? Guess my story made me seem a little more impressive and less felonious, both good things to seem around a guardian, right?”  
Flynn pushed his food around on his plate. “West, huh?”  
Atlas frowned. “You not like West or something? East heads back to Topal, and you couldn’t pay me to go back there, which is saying something, because I will do a lot for the right price, and South heads back to Ruban, and we already established that you have no interest in going home.”  
Flynn looked up from his plate gravely, “We need to go back to the cave.”  
“The cave? As in the ‘place we almost got killed’ cave?”  
Flynn nodded. “If there’s anything of Damun’s I can recover, or any clues I can find as to who that masked man was, I need to know.”  
“And if he’s still there?” Atlas asked. “He nearly killed us last night. Succeeded in killing your friend, in case you forgot. I’m not too keen on getting myself killed.”  
“I haven’t forgotten!” Flynn snapped. “If he’s still there then these people are in danger! There are two of us now, we can both use magic, and we wounded him last night.”  
“Wounded, yeah,” Atlas growled, “you lit him on fire and I shot him in the head and all we did was wound him!”  
“I’m going, whether you want to come or not.”  
Atlas rolled his eyes. “Atlas, just let him go get himself killed, that’s the smart thing to do. No, Atlas, have a heart, you know he’ll die without you! Shut up, conscience, you don’t know anything.” He buried his face in his hands. “Alright, alright, I’ll come. Chances are he jumped ship anyway, you did burn his creepy base down after all.”

Atlas was right. When they got to the cave they discovered that where the false wall had been there was now a very real pile of rocks that they couldn’t budge. Flynn frowned. He had wanted to recover Damun’s things, if nothing else. His bones. He still had the Ruby bracelet from him. And his sword. He had mounted the sword on his back. It was too big to be used as a longsword, it was more of a Bastard sword to him.  
“So here we are,” Atlas sighed. “All we found was rocks, you happy?”  
Flynn ran his hand across the rocks. Damun was gone. The masked man was gone. His only leads as to where Damun’s killer could be were gone. Who was he? Why was he kidnapping people and doing… those things to them? There was nothing he could do, it seemed. “I guess it’s time we head West,” Flynn sighed.  
Atlas gave him a concerned smile. “Hey, kid, keep your chin up, we’ve got a world of adventure in front of us. Try to remember to smile sometimes, man.”  
Flynn laughed out loud. “You have no idea how much I needed to hear that.”

Once they had returned to the town they immediately noticed that there were nearly no people outside, despite it being midday. They heard a commotion coming from the other side of town. “What is going on?” Atlas frowned. “I’m not performing, what’s all the commotion about? Nothing interesting happens out here. Nothing except…” He frowned. “Heh, monster attacks.”  
“A monster? We need to stop it!” Flynn insisted.  
“Or,” Atlas said, “and hear me out here, we get all our stuff and leave.”  
“Atlas, we’re Guardians. it’s our job to save these people.”  
“No, we are kids with magic stones, I have never once claimed to be a Guardian. Except that one time, but I was in a pinch.”  
“I’m going to help them,” Flynn said, leaving.  
“What have I gotten myself into?” Atlas sighed, following reluctantly.

“No! No freaking way! Come on!” Atlas yelled once they had reached the source of the commotion. No people appeared to be hurt, they were hiding from the giant lizards who appeared to be tearing up a burning pile of metal and wood. “Well there goes my livelihood!” He pointed at the burning scraps of metal. Apparently the beasts had attacked Atlas’s equipment while they were gone.  
“Is that your circus?” Flynn asked.  
“Yes, yes it is!” Atlas yelled, “those Pyromanders burned up all my stuff!” One of the great red lizards turned its head and shot flames into the air from its open mouth. “Oh, don’t give me that!” Atlas yelled at the lizard. “You two are so dead!” He pulled his pistol from his bag and took aim. Both of the lizards turned their heads to look at the gun shining in the sunlight.  
The Pyromanders rushed at him, Atlas pulled the trigger, the lead ball slammed into the rightmost Pyromander’s shoulder, crippling it and halting its advance. He turned his pistol on the other and fanned the hammer with his gloved left hand, a small ball of electricity shot from the gun and hit the lizard, stunning it. “Flynn, do the sword thing you do!” Atlas called. Flynn had been watching Atlas fighting in amazement, forgetting he was part of the battle as well. He pulled Damun’s sword from its place on his back and ran at the spasming lizard that had been hit by Atlas’s electric shot. It stood as he approached, but it was too slow. Flynn brought his sword down on the beast’s neck hard, severing the spine and taking the head clean off. Flynn was amazed at the strength of Damun’s sword. It was so silver. Steel, he heard it was called, but this was the only blade he had ever seen made of it.   
Meanwhile Atlas approached the other lizard. As he got close the Pyromander shot a jet of fiery breath at him. He jumped to the side and shot another electric ball at it. It spasmed, and as he walked towards it he reloaded his gun. He placed the barrel on its skull and pulled the trigger. The lead ball tore through its skull, splattering the ground with blood and brains.   
Atlas looked at the burning wreckage that was once his livelihood and sighed. “There goes everything I owned that wasn’t on my person.”  
“Sorry you lost all your stuff…” Flynn said quietly.  
“I want to say it’s not your fault, but it kinda is,” Atlas sighed. “Well, I hope you really enjoyed that visit to the cave.”  
Before Flynn could retort or apologize a townswoman approached them. “Are you two boys Guardians?” She asked.  
“Actually-”  
“Yes. Yes we are,” Atlas interrupted Flynn. “Are you alright, ma’am?”  
“Yes, thank you so much!” She exclaimed. “Those Pyromanders have been showing up every few days and causing trouble, and now we don’t have to live in fear anymore! If there’s anything we could do to repay you, we would be more than happy to do whatever we can.”  
Well,” Atlas frowned, looking back at his things, “All my stuff was kind of destroyed by those monsters.”  
“We can’t recreate those incredible machines you had,” she frowned, “but we could compensate you for your loss. We don’t have much money, but we could all spare just a few coins, I’m sure.”  
Atlas smiled. “That would be more than enough.”

I don’t know how I feel about that,” Flynn frowned as they left the town. They were leading Storm and Shadow behind them. “it seemed dishonest.”  
“It’s not like we’re stealing from them,” Atlas assured. “We may not be Guardians, but we still did a job and we got paid for it. Besides, we need a source of income now that my circus is a pile of burning slag.”  
“Are you suggesting we keep doing this?” Flynn asked uncertainly.  
“Something like it,” Atlas said, “like I said, we need a source of income, kid.”  
“Why do you keep calling me kid?” Flynn sighed. “we’re the same age.”  
“Are we?” Atlas asked. “How old are you?”  
“Thirteen and a half.”  
Atlas grinned. “Thirteen and three quarters.”  
Flynn rolled his eyes. “Like a couple months matters that much. He mounted Storm. “You can ride Shadow, I don’t think Damun would mind.”  
Atlas looked at the large black stallion. “No thanks, I’ll walk.”  
“What? Why?”  
“I don’t like riding things that have their own free will.”  
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Flynn said, “we’ll never make it anywhere just walking.”  
“I’m not riding that thing.”  
Flynn stared at him a moment. “You don’t know how to ride a horse, do you?”  
Atlas blushed. “We don’t ride horses in Topal!”  
Flynn laughed. “Just get on him, it’s easy, Shadow will do most of the work, he’s a good horse.”  
Atlas looked at Shadow again. His feet were already beginning to get sore. He sighed and mounted the horse with some difficulty. He could tell Flynn was holding himself back from laughing as Atlas awkwardly pulled himself atop the horse that was far too large for him. It was terrifying. He felt like he would fall immediately. He clutched the reigns for dear life and dug his knees into the sides of the great beast in hopes it would keep him on. The horse began to move and Atlas thought he would soil himself. He didn’t, luckily, seeing as how all of his spare clothes had been burned up.   
“There we go, not too bad,” Flynn smiled.  
“I hate horses and I hate you,” Atlas hissed as his stomach churned violently.

The rest of the day went without incident. It was a slow ride as Atlas learned to ride a horse, but it was relaxing. Once night came they made camp and Flynn lit the fire. It was amazing how easily control of the powers of the ruby came to him. He smiled, thinking that Damun was helping him from within the ruby.  
“Why did you leave Topal?” Flynn asked after they had eaten and fed and watered the horses.  
Atlas sighed. “Didn’t like my family much, so I stole as much of their stuff as I could carry and left to make maps and have adventures.”  
“That’s it?”  
“I’m not big on talking about myself. Normally I prefer to make up my past. It’s more fun that way.”  
“I’d like to know-”  
Atlas laid down and turned away from Flynn. “If you have the energy to keep up this conversation you clearly have the energy to take the first watch. Good night.” There was a long silence. Atlas looked over his shoulder. “But… If you want to talk about anything. About you, or… how you’re holding up… Well, you know where to find me.” He turned away again.  
Flynn smiled.

“We are almost out of money,” Atlas groaned, looking in his coin pouch. It had been just over two months since they had set out, and the remains of Atlas’s circus funds, as well as the money they had gotten from saving the village were all but gone. It was proving to be a long journey to the next city. The world was a vast, open plain, dotted with forests and the occasional town, and without a map they had no real destination, so it seemed like they weren’t getting anywhere. The two sighed in unison. They were sitting on a bench in front of a tavern in a small town.   
Suddenly three large horses with large, heavy sacks tied to their saddles rode up. The men riding them dismounted, laughing. All three were hairy and unkempt, and wore crude leather armor and swords on their hips. They pulled the sacks off their horses and Flynn could hear the clinking of coins from within. As they walked into the tavern the one closest to them looked at them and grinned. He was missing a few teeth. He pulled a gold coin out of his pouch and tossed it on the ground in front of them. “Fight,” he said. “If I see blood I’ll even give the winner a little extra.”  
They stared at him. Atlas bent over and picked up the coin. “I win,” he said, holding it up.   
The man frowned and shook his head, then followed his friends into the tavern. Atlas and Flynn looked at the coin, then at each other. Atlas grinned. “I think I have a plan.”  
“Become bandits?” Flynn frowned.  
“No,” Atlas sighed, “we steal from the bandits.”  
“I don’t like stealing,” Flynn said, shaking his head. Even during his time as a street rat he had refused to steal. He went hungry more often than not, but he had morals.  
“Don’t think of it as stealing,” Atlas insisted, “they stole it first, and the people they stole it from are probably either dead or miles away. There’s no way we could get it back to them, but we can make sure the people that made them suffer don’t get to keep their gold.”  
Atlas wasn’t wrong. It didn’t sit quite right with him, but Flynn couldn’t argue against it. “Fine,” he finally agreed. “So what’s the plan?”

Atlas had insisted that they attack the bandit camp directly.. “Flaunting all that loot around, they have to be close to home, right?”   
“But how do we take on an entire bandit camp?” Flynn frowned. “We’re two kids.”  
“Correction,” Atlas smiled, “we’re two kids with awesome magical powers, and you were trained by a knight and I have a weapon that they’re all probably too dumb to understand. Besides, we don’t just run in head first, we sneak in after dark, take their stuff, and leave before they know we’re there.”  
And so Atlas and Flynn had followed the bandits at a safe distance, and sure enough their camp wasn’t far, only a few hours’ ride. The camp was surrounded by sharpened tree trunks, making a makeshift wall with only one entrance. Within there were four large tents, and one massive tent in the back. Atlas and Flynn were hiding on a nearby wooded hill. There were two guards out front, but the rest seemed to be in the smaller tents enjoying themselves after returning from a successful voyage.  
“The big tent,” Atlas said quietly, “that’s what we want to hit. It’s probably where the boss sleeps, and bandit bosses are notorious for keeping their riches nearby.”  
“Are they?”  
Atlas shrugged. “Seems like something a bandit boss would do.”  
“So how do we get in?”  
“We take out the guards and waltz right in, it’s a clear shot after that.”  
“How do we take out the guards?”  
“Personally I go for shooting or zapping, you on thee other hand will probably use that sword of yours or some fire. I suggest the sword, less light. And preferably in a major artery.”  
“We can’t just kill them!” Flynn insisted.  
“Why not?” Atlas frowned. “They would just as quickly do it to us. Besides, I’ve seen you kill dozens of monsters, what’s the big deal?”  
Flynn bit his lip. “It’s… different.”  
“These guys are monsters too, you know,” Atlas said seriously. “They may look a bit more like us, but they’re just as much monsters as the creatures we kill.”  
Damun had told him killing was necessary to survive. But this seemed wrong. Remember the weight of your actions, he had said. Flynn closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Killing bandits would help the people. There would be less danger on the roads, stolen money would be in better hands, he and Atlas would be able to survive. He nodded. It only made sense. Atlas smiled and patted him on the back.

Atlas tossed a rock into the grass. The guards looked at each other, then out towards the rusting they had heard. They talked for a moment, then one went to investigate. As he looked around Atlas snuck up behind him. He reached up and grabbed his neck with his gloved hand and sent a massive jolt of electricity into him. He was dead before he could make a sound. The other guard was coming, it was dark but he could see their silhouettes. His sword was drawn. Now it was Flynn’s turn. But he couldn’t move. He was supposed to jump out and take down the second guard but he couldn’t move. Some part of him was stopping him. The guard was past him now, approaching Atlas. Atlas turned and pointed his gun. He hadn’t wanted to use it, it made too much noise, but Flynn wasn’t moving, so he had no choice. He pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Flynn saw Atlas’s eyes widen in the darkness. It had jammed. The guard raised his sword, but before he could bring it down a blade sprouted from his chest. Flynn couldn’t believe it. Without thinking he had rushed forward and stabbed the man through the back to save Atlas. He just killed a man without thinking. The man fell to the ground. He looked at him with a mixture of horror and awe. Atlas approached him.  
“I’m sorry-” Flynn began to whisper.  
“Don’t worry about it,” Atlas said, shaking his head. “We’re both alive, right? That’s all that matters.” There was a pause. “Are you going to be okay?”  
Flynn closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He killed that man so Atlas could live. To save his friend. So innocent people would be safer in the future. Flynn nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

Flynn and Atlas snuck through the bandit camp. It was just as easy as Atlas had said it would be. Most of the bandits were partying in the tents, and the few they did see were so drunk that they didn’t notice the two young boys sneaking around. Upon entering the big tent both of their eyes lit up. Piles of gold and treasures glimmered in the torchlight. It was more than Flynn could have imagined they would have had.  
“You take the left side, I’ll take the right!” Atlas said, throwing Flynn a large sack to fill with gold and treasures. Flynn ran to a pile on the left side and began to shovel gold and gems into the bag. There were all sorts of other treasures, too. Statuettes, weapons, odd looking toys, even scrolls. “Flynn!” Atlas exclaimed from the other side of the room, “get over here and see this!”  
Flynn ran over to Atlas, who was grinning widely at a piece of parchment. Flynn looked at it. It looked like scribbles to him. A vague picture with some dots with a word written on the top. Flynn knew the letters, but it would take him at least a minute to decipher what the word was. He figured it was better to just ask. “What is it?”  
Atlas had to stifle his excited laughter before he could speak. “This, my friend, is a map of the Emerala region!”  
“Which means…”  
“We have our map to the next city!” He said excitedly. “Look!” he pointed to a dot on the map. “There’s the last town we were at,” he moved his finger slightly, “so we’re about here. “And the city of Emerala is here.” He put his hand on a large, intricate marker on the map.  
“That seems awfully far away,” Flynn said.  
Atlas nodded. “Probably at least the distance we’ve already traveled, if not more, but the point is, we have a real destination now! And trust me, travel is much easier when you know where you’re going!”  
Flynn grinned widely and looked at Atlas. The two were grinning like idiots, but they didn’t care. Atlas extended an arm with a closed fist and Flynn touched his own fist to it. Then something came over them and they hugged and jumped around a bit in their excitement.  
“The Hell is going in in here?” they heard a man growl from just outside the tent. They froze in place. A large, hairy man entered the tent and looked right at them, wide-eyed. “Thieves!” He yelled. “fucking thieves! Men, get in here!”  
Within moments the tent was filled with bandits, all brandishing weapons. Atlas clutched the map and his bag of gold, and Flynn held his gold tightly as well. “What do we do?” Flynn whispered as the bandits approached slowly.  
“We’re in a tent,” Atlas said. “Tents tend to be made of flammable materials.”  
Flynn understood. He extended his arm and with a wave of it covered the ground before them in flames. There were exclamations of surprise and terror from the bandits as they jumped back. Flynn raised his arm and a jet of flames shot forth, catching the tent quickly in roaring flames. Flynn turned and used his sword to slice a hole in the back of the tent. Atlas dipped his hat in the pile of coins, grabbing a few last pieces, before running out after Flynn. The two ran around the tent and Flynn shot flames at the tent entrance as he saw bandits trying to chase after them that way. They ran out of the camp and Flynn could hear the screams of the bandits. They won’t hurt anyone else. Won’t steal anymore. Flynn thought to himself as he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.


	4. Happy Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After traveling together for the better half of a year, Atlas and Flynn realize that they've both grown a little.

Chapter Four: Happy Birthday

“We’ve been traveling together for awhile,” Flynn said one night as he was cooking deer meat over a fire while Atlas scribbled in his notebook, as he did every night and oftentimes when they were traveling. He said he was taking notes and drawings for his maps. They were camped out not far from a town. They had taken to making camp rather than staying in Inns, to save money.  
“Yeah,” Atlas nodded. “Better half of a year, I’d say.” Atlas looked up from his notebook. “We’re probably both fourteen by now, huh?”  
Flynn shrugged. “Not like I have a calendar.”  
Atlas flipped to the front of his book. “I’ve been keeping track of the days, at least. When’s your birthday?”  
“The sixteenth of the Third Fire.”  
Atlas stared at him quizzically. “That means nothing to me.” He sighed. “Of course we have different calendars. How many months do you guys divide your year into?”  
“Twelve, roughly equal in length.”  
“Oh good, we do it similarly. Lucky. And how many months into the year is this ‘Third Fire’ of yours?”  
“The third month.”  
Atlas stared at him. “Let me guess, the first two months are the First and Second Fires?”  
“How did you know?”  
Atlas sighed. “Ruban won’t ever be known for it’s creativity, apparently.” He shook his head. “When do you guys start a new year?”  
“The longest day marks the end of an old year and the birth of a new one.”  
Atlas chuckled. “Should have been able to guess at this point.” He looked at his notebook. “So your New Year starts at the Summer Solstice, which for me happens in the month of the Phoenix. Making your birthday take place in the month of the Wolf. Hmm. Happy Birthday.”  
“Is my Birthday today!?” Flynn asked excitedly.  
“Nah, it was like, a month ago, but it’s the thought that counts.” He closed his book. “Well, looks like we both missed our birthdays. Sorry I didn’t throw you a birthday party.”  
“What’s a Birthday Party?” Flynn asked.  
“What’s a-” Atlas sighed, shaking his head. “Of course you wouldn’t know. You’re a street rat. Or is it just not something you guys do in Ruban? Can’t tell if it’s a cultural difference or a class difference. Anyway, you’re not missing much, kid. It’s just a party your friends and family throw for you on your birthday. You get presents and eat fancy stuff and people you never see pretend to care about you for a day.”  
Flynn smiled sheepishly, “Sounds kinda fun.”  
Atlas shrugged and returned to his notebook. “Sorry, kiddo.”  
“Why are you so cynical about it?” Flynn asked.  
“My family will do that to you,” Atlas muttered.  
“What was your family like?” Flynn asked seriously.  
Atlas looked at him. “I already told you I don’t like to talk about myself.”  
Flynn looked him in the eye. “I want to try and know you better. You know all about my past.”  
As little as there was to know. Atlas sighed. “Alright, fine. But it’s not like I have some tragic past or anything. I’m just a runaway. I’m from the Fourth ring of Topal. We have fifteen rings total, so for you that would be like, the outer edge of the upper ring I guess. My brother was a genius. If you believe everything my parents say, he invented the electric carriage at the age of six. I was smart, but I was also a troublemaker, and mouthy.”  
“Hard to believe,” Flynn grinned.  
“Do you want to hear the story or not?” Atlas snapped.  
“Sorry,” Flynn laughed.  
“Anyway,” Atlas continued, “growing up I was always expected to live up to my brother. He was a scientist. In Topal they give Topaz pieces to certain high-level researchers to aid in their studies. My brother was one of them. My parents always made sure I knew I was the lesser son. My dad was always quiet, always ignoring me, my mom on the other hand, actively showed her disdain for me. Called me names, made me feel like dirt. So one day I said screw it. I stole a bunch of my family’s stuff and ran away from home to adventure and make maps.”  
“I’m really sorry you had to go through all that,” Flynn frowned.  
“This coming from the kid who’s actually had a rough life,” Atlas chuckled. “Don’t worry yourself over it. Like I said, it’s not like I have some tragic past, I’m just a runaway.”

They elected to give the horses a rest the next day. Since they were right next to a town it was a good place to take a rest. Atlas went into town to do some shopping and Flynn stayed back at camp. It was strange to think that they were both fourteen now, Atlas thought. They didn’t seem to have grown. Then again, they were the only people they saw every day, so if they were both growing they wouldn’t have noticed much. Both of them had been wearing clothes just a little too big for them when they had met, and they fit now, he realized. Mounting Shadow had become easier, but he had just attributed that to getting better at riding. And he noticed the other day that Flynn had moved his ruby bracelet down on his arm. His arm had grown, Atlas realized now, so he had to move it. The day went by with little incident. Atlas bought the things he needed and even picked up a little something for Flynn. He figured the kid might like to have a birthday present.   
When he got back to camp Flynn was feeding and watering the horses. The giant, four-legged beasts had started to grow on Atlas. He could ride Shadow, at the very least. He put down his things, and when Flynn looked over to greet him he tossed the small wrapped package to him. He had tied it up in cloth, and it really just looked like a lumpy dumpling. “Happy Birthday, kid.”  
Flynn’s eyes lighted up at the sight of the small package. You would have thought he had just given him the key to the universe. “Thank you so much!” Flynn exclaimed, untying the knot and unwrapping the cloth. He pulled out the single short brown leather glove.  
Suddenly Atlas felt like the present was a bad idea. A single glove? Who gives someone one glove? “I noticed your sword hand was getting calloused,” he said quickly, “I saw the glove and thought it might come in handy.”  
Flynn smiled sweetly. “I love it. Thank you.” He put on the glove without hesitation. To Atlas’s relief, it fit. “I got you something too,” Flynn said, rummaging through his things. “I didn’t think to wrap it though.” He produced a thin, tough leather pouch and handed it to Atlas.  
“You didn’t need to-” Atlas looked at the gift closer. It was a holster for his pistol. On one side there was even a cog insignia, like the ones he had on his clothes. Something was odd. Only Topal would make gun holsters, but this was certainly not Topal craftsmanship, and the insignia wasn’t one that really existed. “Did you make this yourself?”  
Flynn smiled and nodded, “Yup. I mean, I bought the leather, but I made it myself.” Flynn suddenly frowned. “I guess you’re normally used to expensive gifts… I’m sorry I got you something so cheap. I just noticed that you always keep your pistol in your bag, I thought it would be useful to be able to carry it in a sheathe.”  
“It’s fine!” Atlas snapped, sounding more put out than he meant to . “It’s great,” he said, softer this time. “I’m going to bed. It’s late.”  
That night Atlas couldn’t stop looking at the holster. He had never gotten a hand made gift before. No one had ever cared enough about him to make him anything. He had been bought so many extravagant gifts, but never one that had real meaning to it like this did. He was glad it was dark and he was facing away from Flynn, because Flynn would have seen him grinning like an idiot.

The next day went by smoothly, and when they set up camp Atlas sent Flynn off to get the firewood. Flynn was amazed at how different the Emerala region was. It had been a gradual change he hadn’t noticed at first, but the open planes had given way to nearly constant forests and hills. The cultures in the towns were different, the people even looked a little different, but he couldn’t pinpoint how. And the air was getting cooler. Atlas said it was still warm for Autumn, and that the trees hadn’t even started to change yet, which Flynn didn’t understand. They didn’t really have cold seasons in Ruban. They had less hot seasons and very hot seasons. And the animals had changed. The plains animals gave way to forests animals. There were still deer, but the horses and zebras were gone. Replaced by squirrels and monkeys.  
By the time Flynn had collected the firewood and returned the sun had nearly set. Flynn had a habit of getting sidetracked by the scenery and losing track of his original goal. When he returned Atlas was waiting for him, smiling uncomfortably. He wore a crude red cloth hat that looked like he made it himself. The horses, as well, were wearing similar hats. There was a large bowl full of water, and plates with several different kinds of food on it. Mostly meats or fruits that they had acquired in the past day or two.   
“Surprise,” Atlas said warily. “It’s a birthday party. I thought about writing you a banner, but I figured it would be faster to just tell you than to wait for you to read it.” Flynn was speechless. “Umm, normally there’s more guests, but uh, both the horses came, so that’s cool. And a squirrel, who I didn’t invite, but he seemed nice, so I let him stay. And normally there are games and things, but I kind of didn’t have time to prepare any of that. But I made some food. And… Water. Normally it’s not water but it’s the only drink we have. Oh, man, you hate it, don’t you? Atlas, why would you do this? Who would enjoy a party with two horses and some berries? Which the squirrel has eaten most of. We’ll have to kick him out.”  
“Atlas, I love it!” Flynn laughed. “It’s amazing! Did you make those hats yourself?”  
Atlas blushed. “Yeah,” He held out another hat to Flynn. “I made one for you, too.”  
Flynn put on the hat and smiled. At first Atlas seemed almost scared, but then he smiled back, and the two began to laugh. They talked and laughed all night, ate and drank and even though there were no games they had a good time. Flynn thought Storm and Shadow did, too. And even the squirrel, who ate a few too many berries.   
The next morning they cleaned up the party- Flynn’s first birthday party- and headed out, smiling. About halfway through the day the forest cleared a bit and opened to a huge hill, stretching out in either direction. Rather than go around they elected to go over. Upon reaching the top their smiles spread from ear to ear. Stretching out before them was the city of Emerala.


	5. The Emerald City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Atlas and Flynn finally arrive in Emerala, and explore the city.

Chapter 5: The Emerald City

Emerala was a city vastly different from the ones that Flynn or Atlas knew. They had seen on the hill overlooking the city that there were no walls like in Ruban or Topal. Rather, the outskirts of the city were a dense forest, while the areas closer to the center became crowded with houses made of stone that got progressively taller and taller as they approached the center. Without a real gate to go to Flynn and Atlas decided to ride into the city and see what happened. Flynn couldn’t stop looking up in amazement as they walked through the woods. All around them in the trees were shoddy houses and people jumping through the trees or climbing up and down ladders. All of the citizens were reserved and quiet. For the most part they were filthy and had a few scrapes or bruises. The people were giving Atlas and Flynn strange looks. Flynn wasn’t surprised, they certainly looked different. Everyone here had green or brown hair, or something in between. Atlas’s golden curls and Flynn’s bright red hair must have been something they had never seen before. Likewise, Flynn had never seen brown or green hair before he entered the Emerala region.   
As they advanced it seemed that the wooded sector of the city was no more than slums, they saw only residential housing, no shops or anything else. Anytime Atlas tried to talk to someone they would simply glare or turn away. At one point Atlas tried to put his left hand on a woman’s shoulder to stop her turning away and she screamed and ran. More than a little confused, Flynn and Atlas advanced to the stone sector of the city. The place Flynn would refer to as the middle ring in Ruban.  
“If we’re within the power of another stone, does that mean we can use that stone’s magic, too?” Flynn asked.  
“I’m not sure,” Atlas replied, “we could always try.”  
Atlas and Flynn tried to tap into the new magic that they could sense was there, at first just concentrating, then moving an arm, eventually flailing about, all to no avail. “I guess not,” Flynn frowned. He supposed whatever let people use magic from the stones was a regional thing.   
The buildings here were much nicer than the dilapidated houses in the outer section. They were built entirely of stone, smooth as if they simply sprung from the ground that way. The buildings were in a tight grid pattern, creating long, narrow streets. There were very clearly shops now. In fact, now it seemed that there were more shops than homes. Men and women standing outside the buildings holding signs and shouting about their wares. Here people smiled at Atlas and Flynn. Invited them to their stores. They looked at a few. A weapon shop, though Flynn and Atlas were both more than happy with the current weapons they had. Then a sculptor’s shop, which was impressive, but they had no need for sculptures on their journey. Flynn began to notice as they walked through that among the denizens of the city some looked more like the people in the slums. Dirty, beaten up, in ragged clothes. All of these people were on chains, and often not far from one of the nicer-looking people. The chained people gave them dirty looks like the people in the slums did as well.  
“Why are some of these people on chains?” Flynn asked Atlas.  
Atlas frowned. “Probably slaves.”  
“Slaves?”  
“People that belong to other people. Humans treated like property. We used to have it in Topal, but it was abolished a long time ago when we realized that when you don’t pay people they get mad and a thousand slaves can easily kill a hundred nobles.” Atlas explained.  
“That’s horrible,” Flynn said, looking at the slaves. How could anyone own another person? As horrible as it was, this city’s cultural problems were not their issue to solve.   
They began to see the magic of the city at work as they walked further in. Earth magic, it seemed to be. A woman patching the cracks in her home with the wave of a hand. Working men and slaves lifting heavy boxes with pillars of earth to get them to higher places. Some kids playing a game that involved throwing a round rock at each other. Flynn and Atlas stopped to watch the game. Flynn couldn’t understand the rules at all, but it seemed there was some sort of goal at each end and two teams of four. Flynn felt a tug on his belt suddenly. He turned and saw a child running from him, Flynn’s coin pouch in his hand. Before Flynn could react Atlas pulled out his pistol and shot an electric stun shot at the kid. He seized for a moment and fell to the ground. Flynn ran to the child. By the time he got there the boy was trying to stand again, to little success.  
“Here!” The boy growled, holding out the coin purse.  
Atlas approached and placed the barrel of his gun on the boy’s head. He had his scary face on. “Why did you steal from us, kid?”  
“Atlas!” Flynn snapped. “Do not threaten children!”  
Atlas sighed and pulled away his gun. “I wasn’t going to shoot him, I just wanted to teach him stealing is wrong.”  
“You’re one to talk,” Flynn mumbled. He looked at the kid. He didn’t look scared, just angry. He knew he was just a street rat. From the slums, most likely. He saw himself at that age in the child. He pulled a few coins from his pouch. “Here, you can have some. Buy yourself some food.”  
The child slapped the coins away. “I don’t need charity from you Guardian scum!”  
Flynn was taken aback. What did he mean by that? The boy got up and started to run, but this time vines shot from the ground and grabbed his ankles. Four men approached him. They all wore long brown cloaks, the one in thee front had his hood down. His hair was wavy and green, the color of moss. The leading man raised an arm and backhanded the child hard. Flynn could see an Emerald embedded in the leather strap on his wrist.  
“You know very well that stealing is not tolerated. Especially by slaves.” The man said coldly. The boy lashed out, but the man flicked his wrist and more vines shot up, these ones grabbing the boy’s wrists and pulling them down. He was on his knees now, his arms pulled back and his chest bared at the man. “Naughty naughty,” he hissed, drawing a dagger from his belt. “You will serve as an example of what happens to slaves who disobey.”  
“Stop!” Flynn yelled, rushing over.  
The man frowned and looked at him. “Who are you, child? You are the offended party, are you not? I am punishing this boy on your behalf.”  
“Don’t you dare kill a child in my name,” Flynn said through clenched teeth. “I am the offended party and I want you to let him go.”  
The man looked as though he were going to retort, but then noticed the ruby bracelet Flynn wore and sighed. “Very well.” A flick of his wrist and the vines were gone. The child ran. “We typically don’t let foreigners make decisions on how we deal with criminals, but that stone. You are Guardians, are you not?”  
Before Flynn could answer, Atlas cut in. “Yes, yes we are. We’re envoys from Topal and Ruban respectively, here to seek audience-”  
“Wonderful!” The man smiled, interrupting Atlas. “We’re actually in dire need of your assistance. Come with me.”

“Note to self, maybe it’s not always a good idea to lie about being Guardians,” Atlas muttered as he and Flynn sat in what they were pretty sure was a prison cell. The walls were the same smooth stone as the rest of the buildings, and a series of stone bars served as their door, though there was no real door. They had a single bed and a bucket, which both were loathe to use. It had been about an hour since they were put here and they had heard nothing from anyone.  
“Are they planning on keeping us here forever?” Flynn asked. The man had said wait here, but that was the last they had heard of him.  
“Probably,” Atlas sighed. “Guess we’re dying down here.”  
Just when they had all but lost hope they heard footsteps. The man and his three companions approached. The man moved his arm and the bars parted ways to make an opening for him to walk through. “I have good news for you two,” he said. “I have spoken with our King, and he wishes for you to perform a task to earn his trust.”  
“Can I just talk to the King myself?” Atlas asked, “I can be very persuasive.”  
The man didn’t listen. He gestured for his companions to bring a map around and place it on the floor in front of the boys. “We’ve been having an issue with a certain escaped convict. I have marked the target’s location on this map. You two are to seek out and kill or capture the target. Either is acceptable. What is required is that you retrieve the Emerald piece that the target stole after killing one of our Guardians. The target is highly dangerous, and wild, but I doubt that will be much of a challenge for two talented Guardians such as yourself.”  
Atlas looked at the map. “That’s outside the city, what’s to stop us from running off?”  
The man frowned. “Nothing. But you two are Guardian envoys, I would assume you want to help us and gain an audience with our King, do you not?”  
Atlas groaned. “You have a point there. So why can’t you guys just take care of this convict yourself?”  
“That’s the problem,” the man sighed, “the convict has an emerald, and it makes us much less effective when our opponent has the same magical abilities as us. They cancel each other out. But you two have new, different magic. You shouldn’t have a problem.”

While Flynn and Atlas agreed that neither wanted anything more than to kill the man who was sending them on this mission, they also agreed that it might be worth trying to complete this task if it meant learning more about the city and magic here. It was clear to them now that the people in the slums and the slaves had not treated them badly because they were foreign, but because they had stones. It seemed here that Guardians were seen as an oppressive force, at least to the poor.  
Atlas looked at the map. “ We should be here, but I don’t see anything.”  
All around them were trees. It was just more woods. No hideout, no convict, no nothing. Suddenly a noise. Before he could react Flynn was on the ground. Atlas drew his pistol but then he was on his chest and a large paw was on his back. Flynn looked up. His attacker wasn’t what he expected at all. He couldn’t quite tell if it was a boy or a girl. It had a pretty face, like he’d associate with a girl, but the body seemed male. Very thin but very strong. Slight, but with defined muscles and no obvious female parts that Flynn could see. And it was small. Shorter than either Flynn or Atlas, he guessed, probably about their age. It wore tattered green rags, showing its toned arms and abs, and Flynn couldn’t tell if the rags on the lower body was at one time shorts or a skirt. But on its right ankle it wore a brown leather strap with an emerald embedded in it. Its wild brown eyes were glaring at Flynn from behind long, unkempt and matted green hair, and it appeared to be bearing its teeth like fangs. It had no weapon, but its nails were sharp and on Flynn’s throat.   
“Who are you! You smell like fire and cinders, and he smells like metal and the flash in a storm. You don‘t belong here.” It demanded. The voice was still androgynous. Flynn felt bad referring to it as “it” in his mind, but he couldn’t think of another way to refer to it.  
“We’re- oof!” Atlas had begun to speak, but the horse-sized grey wolf on his back had laid down more weight and stopped him.  
“I’m asking him,” The attacker growled. “Answer. Now.”  
“We’re just adventurers,” Flynn replied. “we came to see Emerala, and we got put in jail, and then they told us to hunt down a convict if we want to see the King, so we came here. We just want to know more about this place, we don’t want to hurt you.”  
It looked at the ruby on Flynn’s bracelet. “Guardians?”  
“Uh, kind of. Not really.”  
It sat back, still holding Flynn down but allowing him some breathing room. “Are you good at killing people?”  
The wolf took its paw off of Atlas and allowed him to sit up, but stayed close. “I like to think we are,” Atlas replied. “we’ve killed lots of things.”  
It nodded. “Come with me. You can live for now. If you make a funny move I’ll kill you. But you could be helpful. So come.” It stood and walked off, it gestured and the wolf began to follow.  
“Wait, what’s your name?” Atlas asked. “I’m Atlas Pennycog and my friend is Flynn Fleischer.”  
It turned back. “Fang Vineheart.”

Fang took them to its home. If you could call it that. It was a crudely made wooden house in a tree overlooking a pond. The wolf stayed on the ground while Fang led them into the tree. There wasn’t much in the way of furnishings. A rug of sorts and several piles of fresh meat. Fang grabbed a large piece of meat and threw it to the wolf below. “He’s Ash, a Direwolf,” Fang said.  
“Can I ask you a question?” Atlas asked. Fang simply stared in reply. “It might seem a little rude, but are you a boy or a girl?” Flynn thought Atlas was being far too forward, but he was also glad it had been brought up.  
“Does it matter?” Fang frowned.  
“Kind of,” Atlas replied. “Mostly for pronoun’s sake. I’d rather not call you ‘it’, that seems rude.”  
Fang growled. “Boy, then. Call me he, if you have to. But I don’t really care either way.”  
“So, um, how did you get that Emerald, Fang?” Flynn asked. He was just trying to start conversation. They felt strangely like hostages.  
“I killed a Guardian.”  
“You are just so charming,” Atlas mused. “And why, may I ask, did you do that?”  
“He killed my family and sold me into slavery.”  
“Oh. Alright then, sore subject, I’ll shut up.”  
“Could you elaborate?” Atlas looked at Flynn like he was crazy, but Flynn just wanted to get as much of both sides of the story as he could.  
Fang sighed and sat down. “When I was really little, almost too little to remember, Guardians came to my village. They do that sometimes. They come to remote villages in the region to collect slaves. My parents refused so they killed them and took me. I remembered the face of the man who did it though. So I was a slave for a long time. It was hard work, it made me strong. In my free time I would go out into the woods and play with animals. I met Ash there. He was a puppy, and we grew up together. Trained to kill together. He’s like my brother. So one day I see the Guardian who did it. The first time I’d seen him since it happened, and I snapped. My chains didn’t stop me. I jumped on him and tore him to pieces with my bare hands. All the guards turned on me, so I took his emerald and escaped. Once I had magic they couldn’t stop me. So I took Ash and hid out here. They send guards and bounty hunters after me but I just kill them as they come. You’re the first Guardians they’ve sent, though. And the first foreigners.”  
“How long have you been hiding out here?” Flynn asked.  
Fang shrugged. “Few months.”  
“Why don’t you just leave?” Atlas asked.  
“I want to kill them all,” Fang replied matter-of-factly.  
“Fair enough, you do you. Good luck with that,” Atlas said uncomfortably.  
“You’re going to help me,” Fang stated.  
“A lot of people are asking us to do things for them today,” Atlas sighed, “and we never really get a choice in the matter.”  
Flynn shook his head. “I can’t help you kill them all. Destroying a city is too much for three kids with magic stones to do. I understand you want revenge, but if you try killing every Guardian you’re just going to get yourself killed.”  
“So then what would you say I do!?” Fang snapped.  
“Leave?” Flynn suggested. “there’s no reason for you to stay here anymore.”  
Fang looked at him quizzically. “I’ll think about it. For now I need to sleep. You can too. Or not. I don’t care. If you try to leave or do anything Ash will eat you.”  
“Yes sir,” Atlas groaned. “What have we done to deserve this, Flynn?”  
Flynn shrugged. “Lied? Stolen? Murdered? We’ve got a long list of sins on our back, buddy.”  
Atlas moaned. “I’m going to sleep.”  
Flynn looked at Fang sleeping. He looked almost innocent. It was hard to believe this child had killed as many people as he claimed. Flynn laid down and sleep found him quickly.

Flynn was woken by the growls of Ash. Fang and Atlas were already awake, it seemed. He joined them crouched by the window. “What’s going on?” he asked.  
Fang raised a finger to his lips. “Come out come out wherever you are!” A voice called from below. Flynn recognized the voice. It was the man from earlier. “If you take too long we’ll have to kill this dog of yours.”  
Fang gritted his teeth. “I need to kill him.”  
“What?” Flynn asked.  
“He was there,” he explained, “he didn’t kill them, but he was the one in charge. He gave the order.”  
That was the real reason he couldn’t leave, Flynn realized. “What do you want us to do?”  
“There are four of them,” Fang said, “as long as I kill him you two can take whoever you want.”  
“You must be hiding in there,” the man said. “Well then, if we just crush your little house… men, golem formation!”  
Flynn peeked out the window and saw the four men raising heir arms. The ground rose up, the earth rising higher and higher, taller than the trees, forming a massive stone man. Just its head was taller than Flynn. How could they fight something so much larger than them? It could crush all three of them with one hand.  
“New plan,” Fang said. “You take care of the Guardians, leave the golem to me.”  
“What does that- “ Atlas stopped short as Fang jumped out of the window. “Now what?”  
“We… take care of the Guardians?” Flynn grabbed his sword and jumped after Fang. Atlas reluctantly followed.   
Atlas ran to the side to get a clear shot at the Guardians, but just as he lined it up the golem brought down a massive hand on him. He jumped to the side, but before the hand reached where he would have been Fang appeared out of nowhere and kicked the golem’s hand straight off, sending it flying into the trees. The hand began to reform from the earth and Fang bared his teeth at Atlas. “I told you to leave the golem to me. Don’t dodge it, don’t fight it, don’t look at it, don’t even pay attention to it, just kill them!”  
Atlas nodded. What had they gotten themselves into? Who the heck was this kid? The golem swung at Fang and he jumped onto the arm. He ran up it and jumped across the chest. He brought his elbow around and slammed it into the center of the golem’s chest. The blow was powerful enough to make a crater and cause rocks to explode out of the golem’s back. Atlas was dumbfounded. He shot at one of the sorcerers but a wall of earth rose to protect them. Fang was on the ground again. The golem brought down a fist, but Fang jumped back. A pillar of earth erupted from the ground and shot Fang into the air. This time he made it to the golem’s head. He spun and kicked it hard enough to knock the head off. Atlas watched it fly over the tree line and smash into one of the tall buildings in the city. Atlas could see Flynn was trying to get to the sorcerers as well, but they were blocking every assault with walls of earth and stone. And fire and lightning were proving ineffective against earth. Before Fang fell from the height of the golem, he grabbed the shoulder and torso, dug his fingers into the stone and ripped the arm from its socket. He then reformed the arm around his own right arm and slammed a massive punch into the top of the golem. It crumpled to the ground, falling to pieces under the weight of its own fist in Fang’s hands. Now Fang turned his attention on to the Guardians. He brought down the fist again, this time on them. They conjured pillars to stop it, but they had to concentrate hard to defend against Fang. “NOW!” Fang yelled.  
Atlas saw the opportunity. They couldn’t defend against both at once. It was taking all of their focus to stop Fang. “Flynn, fire!” Atlas ordered. Flynn shot a jet of flame into the cage that the Guardians had made for themselves. The one in the middle caught fire, screaming as he choked on his own burning flesh, but the remaining three narrowly escaped as the massive fist came down. As it hit the ground it shattered into boulders and crushed one of the fleeing Guardians. Atlas took aim and shot the third through the chest, adding electricity to his bullet, just for good measure.   
But the man was still escaping. And Fang was still falling. He didn’t even realize Fang was aiming for him until the wild child landed on his back and began to tear into him with claws and teeth. Blood splattered across the trees and the grass. By the time Flynn and Atlas got to them there was next to nothing left of the man that could be considered more than meat. Fang stood up and looked at them. His hands and face were covered in blood, but he was smiling a little. Atlas and Flynn were struggling to not seem horrified.  
“You…” Atlas paused. “Are kind of ridiculously badass.”  
“So, you killed the man you needed to kill,” Flynn said. “What now?”  
Fang looked down at the corpse. “I guess… I’ll leave. If I stay they’ll keep sending more and more at me. Eventually I’ll die.” Somehow Atlas doubted that. He felt like Fang could probably actually destroy the city on his own if he tried.   
“Where will you go?” Flynn asked.  
Fang shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”  
“You could come with us,” Flynn smiled.  
Atlas wanted to argue that, but in the end, having the psychotic monster child on their side was probably the best bet. “I… Don’t think I would fit in with your group,” Fang said solemnly.  
Atlas smiled. “Flynn accepts just about everyone, and I’m kind of terrified of you, so I probably won’t make fun of you too much.”  
Fang smiled. “You would really take me with you?”  
Flynn grinned back. “Of course. The more the merrier, right?”  
“Just, uh, wipe the blood off your face, please,” Atlas laughed awkwardly. He looked down to avoid eye contact as Fang wiped his face, and he noticed that the man’s bag was still intact and not covered in blood. A piece of parchment was sticking out. He knelt down and took it out. He unrolled it and grinned.  
“What’s that?” Flynn asked.  
“This, my friends,” Atlas laughed excitedly, “is a map for prospective trade routes between Emerala and Sapphus! We have a map to our next city!” Maybe it wasn’t such a bad couple of days after all.


	6. On the Road Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a very brief stay in Emerala, Atlas and Flynn get back on the road, this time heading for Sapphus, and with a powerful new ally in tow.

Chapter Six: On the Road Again

All three of them were more than ready to leave Emerala. It had been a short trip, but one awful enough for Atlas and Flynn to decide that running off with a resident of the city was just as good as exploring it more. They retrieved their horses from the trees they had tied them to not terribly far from Fang’s home the previous night when they had gotten off to look for the convict. When the horses saw Ash they began to whinny in fright and rear up on their hind legs. They were poised to run when Fang approached and placed his hands on both of their noses.  
“Shh,” Fang said soothingly. “It’s alright. Ash is a friend.” Suddenly the horses were calm.  
“How did you do that?” Atlas asked.  
“I’ve spent a lot of time with animals,” Fang replied, returning to whatever he had been working on while they were gone. He had been digging a small hole, apparently, and in it he put the emeralds from the Guardians they had killed. Flynn still wasn’t sure how he felt about that. They may have been Guardians in name, but in practice they were little more than bandits, and he made his peace with killing bandits a long time ago.  
“What are you doing?” Flynn asked as Fang buried the emeralds.  
“Earth returns to Earth,” Fang explained. “Better they return home than other corrupt Guardians receive them. We have no need for them.” That much was true. Atlas and Flynn had tried using magic with the emeralds as well, but it went about as well as when they had tried it in the city  
Flynn had a thought. “When Damun died he was absorbed into the stone. Why didn’t they get turned to bones?”  
Fang thought a moment. “I can’t speak for every stone, but I believe that the Emerald doesn’t absorb people it doesn’t like. They were bad people, so it left them be.”   
Flynn liked that. That the Ruby chose Damun. He was one of the good ones. Would Flynn be absorbed into the Ruby one day? Flynn had another thought regarding the Emeralds “How did you manage to overpower that golem with your magic when there were four of them against you?”  
“Earth is alive,” Fang said. “You do not command earth, you ask it to do the things you want it to. They were commanding, and the earth didn’t like that. I asked, and it chose my side.”  
Flynn nodded. He had never thought about fire that way, but in a way fire was alive too. Maybe from now on he would try asking rather than commanding, whatever that meant.

Once Fang had finished collecting his things they mounted up and rode north out of the forest. Fang rode Ash as easily as Flynn rode a horse, if not with more ease. And Ash had no trouble keeping up with Shadow and Storm, even when Flynn sped up just to see if they could match each other at top speed. Once they set up camp and had their dinner Atlas immediately went to his maps. Looking at the new map and writing in his own notebook. He was deep in concentration, and Flynn knew better than to bother him when he was like that. Flynn went outside of camp to practice with his sword. After a few minutes he realized that Fang had followed him and was watching him swing at the air.  
He put down his sword and looked at Fang. “Do you need something?”  
“Do you always practice by yourself?”  
Flynn shrugged. “Atlas isn’t interested in swords. He does help me with my magic handling though. And he teaches me to read.” Why was he defending Atlas like Fang had insulted him?  
“I can be your sparring partner,” Fang smiled uncomfortably.  
Flynn smiled back. “Thanks, but this is a real sword, I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”  
Fang approached and extended his hand. “Give me the sword.” Flynn did. Fang looked at it, swung it a few times, felt the weight, then placed his hand on a tree. He pulled away, and with his hand came a wooden sword. An exact replica of Flynn’s in every way. Fang handed both swords to Flynn. “There, now you have a practice sword.”  
Flynn was amazed. The weight and balancing were perfect. If he closed his eyes he wouldn’t have been able to tell which was which. He put his real sword aside and took up the wooden one in his hand. “Alright, let’s go then,” he smiled.  
He shouldn’t have been worried about hurting Fang. He didn’t hit him once. Fang was crazy strong. Flynn was the one who ended up sore and covered in bruises, but he still smiled. Fighting a strong opponent excited him. It was like when he and Damun used to spar. He may lose but he could tell he was getting better. He could also tell Fang was holding back. He was using his knuckles and bare palms, not his nails like he did when he was aiming to kill. Flynn gathered during their spar that Fang had two stances he switched between. One was grounded and strong like a stone. He was unmovable, and attacks from this stance were strong and devastating. He learned that Fang called this stance “Earth.” The other was fast and unpredictable. In this stance Fang felt more animal than human. This is where Flynn could tell he was used to using his claws. He was almost too fast to see and untouchable. His attacks were sudden, fast and Flynn could never tell where they would come from. Fang called this stance “Wild.”

As they returned to camp Atlas looked up at them with weary eyes and put his maps down. “We’re going to have to adjust our pace a bit,” he said.  
“What do you mean?” Flynn asked, sitting next to him. Fang stayed a little farther away.  
Atlas pointed to the map. “Sapphus is in the extreme north, and Winter is on its way, so we’re going to need to hurry if we want to make it there before things get bad.”  
Flynn was confused. “What do you mean by ‘things get bad’?”  
“Of course you have no idea what I’m talking about, you lived in a freaking hot box your whole life,” Atlas sighed. “A lot of this is just my speculation, but I think we’re better safe than sorry. Emerala and Topal both seem to have moderate climates, at least what I’ve seen of Emerala matches with what I know of Topal around this time of year. Emerala and Topal are also almost exactly lined up on the North/South line, right in the middle I would guess. Ruban, on the other hand, is very hot and very south. As I’ve heard from you, it’s pretty much hot all year round and you’ve never even seen snow. So I think that it’s safe to assume that the farther north you go, the colder it will get. Of course you won’t know anything about snow, but Fang at least should understand the weight of the situation. Snow is hard to move around in. And the cold can kill you very easily. Now it took us almost seven months to get from Ruban to Emerala, and Emerala and Sapphus seem to be about the same distance apart. And Winter will be on us in four months or less. However, we spent a good chunk of our first journey with no destination, which slowed us down considerably. We also had no deadline, so we spent our journey at a leisurely pace, and explored all sorts of places. I think, with our map right off the bat, and if we push ourselves a little we’ll be able to make it. No more exploring and stopping to smell the roses, as fun as that may be. And we can’t just be trotting every day, we need to gallop as much as we can. Cross as much distance as we can before the winter storms come. Everyone clear on this?”  
Flynn nodded. He didn’t quite actually understand, snow was no more than an idea to him, and he had never felt real cold, but Atlas seemed serious, so he was inclined to agree.

After only a week or so of travel Flynn finally got to see what changing leaves meant. Atlas had to constantly tell him to hurry up because he was always looking up at the amazing colors of the leaves. They were red and orange and yellow like fire, but they weren’t hot. It was amazing. They were making good time, though. Atlas said they’d made it surprisingly far in so little time, and the woods were getting less dense as they moved north. It was definitely colder now. It was the coldest weather Flynn had ever felt, but Atlas insisted it was only a cool Autumn day. Apparently it would get a lot worse.  
One night at camp Atlas looked around and frowned. “Where’s Fang?” He was nowhere to be seen. He had been acting a little strangely all day, too. He was quieter and more abrasive than usual.  
Flynn heard a noise from outside of camp and he and Atlas went to investigate. When they got there they realized the sound was coming from Fang. He was on the ground, clutching his stomach and groaning, his legs were covered in blood. Flynn’s eyes widened. “Atlas, we need to help him, he’s bleeding!”  
Atlas didn’t seem worried. He knelt down and inspected Fang. “No wound… Heh, I thought so.”  
Flynn frowned. “Thought what?”  
“I learned this from my mom,” Atlas explained. “Once a month women get a monthly blood. It’s nothing to be worried about, it happens every month and the world is still full of women, so I doubt it kills them.”  
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Flynn frowned. “Fang isn’t a girl.”  
“News flash, buddy,” Atlas sighed, “Fang is a girl.” Fang lashed out at Atlas, but he easily hopped out of the way.  
“But he said-”  
“Believe it or not, just because someone said something doesn’t make it true,” Atlas chuckled, “you’d think you would have learned that by now, traveling with me.”  
“Why would Fang lie about that?”  
Atlas shrugged. “Plenty of reasons. Worried we might not like girls, or maybe she wants to be a boy, I don’t really care. Point is, our companion is in pain. Male or female, we need to help out.”  
“How?”  
Atlas smiled. “I’ll be right back.” He left for a moment and returned holding a vial filled with a cloudy liquid. “This is something else I got from my mother. Said it helped soothe her monthly blood pains. I stole it so she would be in pain, then quickly realized she can just get more, and I have no use for it, but I held onto it just in case. And luckily it’ll come in handy after all.” He handed it to Fang. “Drink this, it’ll help.”  
Fang took it in shaking hands and brought it to her mouth, shakily drinking the fluid. She coughed and cringed. Apparently it didn’t taste good. But almost immediately Flynn could see Fang was feeling better. She sat up. “Thank you…” She said quietly.  
Atlas smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I have to ask though, how do you usually deal with this?”  
“There’s an herb that grows near my home that helps,” Fang replied. “I didn’t think that it might not grow out here, too.”  
Atlas nodded. “Alright, well you clean yourself up, we’re going to head back to camp. Join us when you’re feeling up to it.”  
They began to walk off. “Wait!” Fang snapped. They stopped. “You’re not going to ask-”  
“Why you wanted us to think you’re a boy?” Atlas asked. “It’s not really any of my business. I’ll keep calling you a boy until you tell me you’re a girl though.” Fang had nothing to say to that. They left her to clean herself up.  
“How did you know Fang was a girl?” Flynn asked once they were back to camp.  
“There were plenty of signs,” Atlas said. “Mainly that he never takes off his clothes or relieves himself anywhere near us.” True, Atlas and Flynn would change clothes at camp, but Fang always went further out, and Atlas and Flynn would relieve themselves on a tree just off the trail, but again, Fang was always heading into the brush. Flynn had never thought anything of it, though, he just thought he was shy. In the end, he figured it didn’t really matter whether Fang was a boy or a girl. It didn’t change anything.

It was only about a week before Fang was feeling better. They had recently emerged from the forests and were now traveling across plains once again. It was a gloomy, cold day and rain was falling steadily as they rode. Come midday they came across a body of water bigger than any Flynn had every seen. A huge river that they could barely see the other shore of.  
“Damn,” Atlas frowned. “How well do Ruban horses swim?”  
“Swim?” Flynn asked.  
“Probably not well,” Atlas sighed. He looked around. “Let’s head east and hope for a bridge. We need to be going east as well, luckily.”  
After a few hours of riding they did indeed find a bridge. A large, sturdy wooden bride spanning the river. Unfortunately, it seemed to be occupied. A good thirty men in heavy furs with swords or axes were blocking the bridge.  
“You kids trying to pass?” One man asked.  
“Yes, we’re just passing through,” Atlas replied.  
“Alright, no problem. Just give us all your gold and your mounts and you can be on your way,” The man grinned.  
“Hmm, tempting offer,” Atlas said, feigning thought, “but we’re going to have to pass. I guess we’ll have to try for another bridge.”  
Atlas turned Shadow and began to walk off. “What are you doing?” Flynn asked quietly.   
“It’s raining,” Atlas replied through his teeth. “My gun doesn’t work in the rain.”  
“What about your…” Flynn made a gesture with his left hand, indicating magic.  
“Do you want me to shock all of us? Lightning in the rain is not a good idea.”  
“What do we have here?” The man asked, grabbing Fang’s ankle and inspecting the emerald. “That looks like it’s worth a-” He was suddenly unable to speak as Fang Placed his hands on Ash’s back and lifted his legs into the air. The man was instinctually holding on tightly and was lifted into the air. Fang then completed the frontal flip quickly and slammed the man hard into the ground, while Fang’s bottom landed softly on Ash’s head.   
Fang dismounted and ground his foot into the man’s neck. He was twitching and gurgling a lot, and it was unclear as to whether or not he was even still conscious. “Don’t touch me.” Fang hissed.  
“Well… Poo.” Atlas sighed.  
Flynn looked at all the bandits drawing their weapons. He drew his own. “We’ll be fine.” He said, and dismounted Storm and headed to battle.   
Atlas drew his pistol, aimed and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. “I hate the rain.”  
The bandits were closing in on Fang. Flynn managed to catch one who was poised to attack. The two swordsmen traded blows. It was exciting. It was rare that Flynn actually managed to fight someone else with a sword. Usually just monsters. Flynn’s entire mind was in the battle. The rush was amazing. His opponent seemed so slow. No, he wasn’t slow. Flynn was just used to fighting Fang. Fang was unbelievably fast. Fighting a normal person made it seem like fighting in slow motion. An opening. Flynn slid his sword through the man’s ribs and he fell to the ground. Flynn felt good about the win. He looked over and saw five men crumpled on the ground. He looked just in time to see Fang bring down another with a powerful knee to his chin, Flynn heard the sickening crack as his neck snapped. Vaulting off the man before he could fall, Fang brought his other leg around and kicked another bandit hard across the face, his head whipped halfway around and stayed that way. Suddenly Flynn didn’t feel as accomplished as he had moments before. He searched the battlefield for a foe he could take on before Fang killed it.  
The battle continued a few more minutes, and Flynn managed to kill two more bandits. Fang took out more than he could count, and even Ash had killed a couple. There were only three bandits left, and they were terrified. One pulled out a strange wooden whistle and blew into it hard after fumbling with it for a moment. Fang rushed him and grabbed his face. He brought his head down had on the ground, splattering blood across the bridge. The last two bandits turned on Fang. One didn’t realized Flynn behind him, who swept his feet out from under him and slid his sword into his neck once he was on the ground. The other was somehow turned into bloody bits by the time Flynn looked up. He didn’t even wonder how Fang did these things anymore.  
“What was up with this?” Flynn asked, looking at the whistle.  
Fang looked at it. “Looks like… an animal call… we have them back home.”  
“What was he-” The water began to tremble. “Oh.”  
Out of the river came a massive head with huge, wicked teeth. A long, powerful body like a massive blue serpent. The beast roared and Flynn lost his footing, slipped and fell. Fang, on the other hand, seemed excited. The beast looked at Fang and Fang stared it right in the eyes. The beast reared back and lunged at Fang. Fang took his earth stance. “Fang, you idiot, move!” Atlas yelled, galloping up on Shadow. He raised his arm to cast his magic, but he stopped. The beast’s open mouth came down on Fang… and stopped. Fang was holding onto the jaws of the monster, one in each hand, and it was unable to move. Fang brought the entire head of the beast over his shoulder, jumped, and using the momentum pulled the entire creature out of the water and slammed it down on the shore. Fang then place his foot on the roof of the beast’s mouth, which was now looking up at the sky, as it was lying upside-down on the ground, and with the rest of his body Fang tore the bottom jaw away, dislocating it. The monster, now thoroughly beaten, was allowed to go and slithered lamely back into the river.  
“Did you just see what I just saw?” Flynn asked Atlas.  
“If you mean a kid smaller than either of us taking out a giant sea monster with his bare hands, then yes. Yes I did.”  
“That was so awesome!” Flynn exclaimed as Fang returned.  
Fang froze in place. “Er- umm…. Th-thanks.”  
“What’s wrong with you?” Atlas frowned.  
“I’m not good… with compliments. Or talking to people.”  
“You talked to us fine when we first met,” Flynn said. He had noticed Fang was less talkative and confident in his speech sense they hit the road.  
“That was my home… I felt safe there.”  
Atlas smiled. “Don’t worry, I have enough charisma for all three of us.”  
Fang looked at Flynn. “Are you bad with people, too?”  
“Not exactly,” Flynn laughed, “but I tell the truth, and Atlas hates that.” Atlas gave him a look. “I’m not wrong.”


	7. Winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they head north the snow begins to fall, and the safe confines of the city are nowhere to be seen.

Chapter 7: Winter

The Boarilla stared down Fang, the two circling each other. It was a massive beast, though Fang had taken down bigger. Atlas and Flynn watched. Usually when things that were far too big to conceivably be beaten attacked them they just let Fang handle it. He liked it. The Boarilla stood on two small legs, but held much of its weight on its massive arms. Its thin tail waved back and forth in rhythm. Steamy hot breath shot from its mouth, through massive tusks. Finally it made its move. It reared back with a fist several times the size of Fang and punched at him. Fang punched back. Their fists collided. Fang was pushed into the soft earth, but held his ground. The earth pushed back, and Fang was unmoved. The Boarilla pulled back and brought its other fist around. Fang spun and wrapped his arms around its wrist and used the momentum to pull it onto its back. It resisted, but the ground beneath its feet shuddered and it ultimately fell hard. It rose quickly and lashed at Fang with its huge tusks. Fang kicked the incoming tusk hard and it broke off, flying a good distance and embedding itself in the ground. The beast howled in pain and Fang grabbed the other tusk. He swung around onto its back and pushed it onto its chest, holding the tusk back. The beast cried out in resignation. Ash bounded up happily and lifted his leg and marked Fang’s territory for him.  
Fang dismounted the Boarilla and the giant monster loped sadly away. “Nice job!” Flynn smiled as he and Atlas approached. No matter how many times they saw Fang take down massive monsters it never ceased to amaze.   
Fang blushed. “Shut up.”  
Atlas and Flynn laughed. Atlas looked up at the sky. It was a cloudy day, and cold. How long had it been? Three and a half months? Close to four. Something hit his cheek. Something wet. Then it started falling in force. The snow was coming down. Winter was here at last.

Flynn couldn’t stop staring at the sky and grinning like a fool. Snow was amazing! It was so beautiful, and the gentle yet erratic way it fell was captivating. Once it had formed a smooth layer on the ground he suddenly felt bad about stepping all over it. And yet he still wanted nothing more than to jump in it and play with it. Ash was bounding around like an excited puppy. Atlas had to yell at Flynn multiple times to hurry up. He was trying to get them as far as possible before the snow became too difficult to move in. Apparently Sapphus wasn’t too terribly far off, but that meant little when you were freezing and stuck in snow.  
The snow didn’t stop. Days passed and it kept falling. Atlas was loathe to even make camp at night in fear that they wouldn’t be able to get moving again. Luckily they had all gotten heavier clothes months ago, when it had started getting cold. For now at least, they weren’t freezing. Flynn’s fire helped with the warmth. On multiple occasions he tried melting a path for them, but there was just too much snow and he didn’t have the energy to keep it up. They sat shivering at camp around the fire. The animals close to help share the warmth. Ash was wrapped around Fang And Atlas was laying his head against Shadow’s leg.   
“We’re not going to make it,” Atlas said groggily. He was going, Flynn could tell. They couldn’t sleep, Flynn realized, they wouldn’t wake up this time. They were so cold. So very cold. His gloves were soaked through and he couldn’t feel his feet. He concentrated hard and erected a small circle of flames around them. It would warm them, it would melt the snow.  
“Stay awake,” Flynn said to them. “Come on, Atlas, say something. Keep yourself awake.”  
“Flynn, be quiet, I just want to sleep,” Atlas whined.  
“Atlas, tell me about your mother,” Flynn replied.  
Atlas glared at him. “Why do you want to bring that up now?”  
“My mother was pretty,” Fang mumbled. “I don’t remember anything else about her.”  
“What about your dad?” Flynn asked.  
“He… Wore glasses, I think,” Fang said.  
“When I was six,” Atlas said, “I built a robot. I showed it to my mom, and she showed me a robot my brother built when he was six. Then she made them fight each other, and mine was torn to pieces. My brother’s was designed for chopping wood, mine was supposed to brew coffee.”  
“My dad died when I was still too young to remember,” Flynn said, “but my mom raised me until I was six or seven, she was such a great lady, but she died of disease.” Flynn paused. His breathing was heavy but shallow. His circle of fire was waning. “But then I met Damun, and he helped me a lot. He taught me how to use a sword, how to be confident, how to smile. How to…” He trailed off, his eyelids were heavy. He tried to shake it off. “Atlas, Fang, how did you guys learn to fight…” No reply. “Atlas? Fang?” They were out cold. He needed to help them, to warm them. He struggled to get to his feet. He stumbled in the direction of them and fell on his face. He turned himself over. The fire was out. He tried to light it, but the magic wouldn’t come. He looked up at the sky. Damun was staring back at him.  
“You giving up now, kid?” He smiled.  
“I… no, I’m not giving up, I just need to rest. Just for a minute. It’s cold, I’m tired… so tired.”  
“If you sleep now you’ll never get up,” Damun frowned.  
“That’s okay… I need the sleep. I’m really… really… tired…”  
“Flynn, wake up,” Damun urged. “Wake up. Wake up!” It wasn’t Damun, it was Atlas now. “Flynn, wake up now!”  
Flynn sprang up. It was warm. And dry. Where was he? Where were they? He looked around, Atlas and Fang were there in dry clothes. There were torches. They were in a house. A small wooden room. “Where are we?” Flynn asked.  
“Someone found us,” Atlas said. “An old lady. She took us all back to her house and cleaned us up.”  
As if on cue an old, grey-haired woman entered. She wore a necklace with a blue stone. She was holding a platter with bowls on it. “Oh, I see your friend is awake, would he like some stew?”  
“Thank you,” Flynn said, taking the bowl. It was the most delicious meal he had ever had. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he had started eating. All three of them wolfed down the stew while the kindly old woman smiled and watched. After he finished Flynn looked around the room again. It wasn’t much to look at. A set of drawers and a few furs on the walls, but little else. “Storm, and Shadow and Ash, are they okay?” He asked.  
“I assume you mean your animals, yes?” she smiled. “They’re fine. I have them in the stable, they’ll be warm and fed in there.”  
“Ash hates being locked up,” Fang said quietly.  
The old woman frowned. “Better than being frozen though, don’t you think?”  
Fang nodded.  
The old woman smiled. “You can call me Baba, what are your names?”  
“Atlas,” Atlas said, then pointed to the other two, “Fang and Flynn.”  
Baba nodded. “Such lovely names for lovely children.”  
“That necklace,” Atlas said, pointing to the blue stone, “that’s a sapphire, isn’t it?”  
The old woman looked surprised. She touched her necklace and smiled. “Such a smart little boy. I would ask how you could tell, but I can see that all three of you have your own stones, it’s clear you can tell one when you see it, hm?”  
“That,” Atlas smirked, “and how else could an old lady drag three kids and their horses and a Direwolf out of the snow?”  
The old woman laughed, “You’re quite a clever one.”  
“Bit of a genius,” Atlas shrugged with a smirk.  
“Well, I should get back to my chores,” The old woman said, standing up. She lost her balance and nearly fell, but Flynn popped out of the bed and caught her arm.  
“Are you alright?” Flynn asked.  
“Oh, yes, thank you so much!” She smiled.  
Flynn looked at the empty soup bowls. At the clean clothes and the soft beds. She had done so much for them. “Is there any way we could repay you for all of this?”  
“Don’t be silly!” Baba laughed, “don’t think anything of it. The storm will last a few days more though, I’m sure, so it’s best you all stay here till then. You three just help me with my chores and consider it payment enough, hm?”  
Flynn smiled. “Of course.”

Fang placed his hand on Ash’s muzzle. The wolf was sad, he knew, but he had to stay in there or risk freezing to death. Fang hated being locked up, too, so he knew how Ash felt. Ash growled and Fang swung around instinctively. It was only Baba. How had Fang not heard or smelled her approach? The snow was dulling his senses.  
“He doesn’t like me much for locking him up,” Baba sighed.  
“Sorry…” Fang replied.  
Baba shook her head. “Don’t be, it’s a natural reaction. I would hate me, too, in his place.  
“You live alone out here?” Fang asked.  
Baba nodded. “It’s just a little shack I built after I left the Guardians. Wanted to get away from it all, you know?”  
“It’s lonely, though.” It wasn’t a question, Fang knew from experience. Though he always had Ash, at least. Baba was really all alone.  
Baba laughed. “You’d be surprised at how many travelers come through here, It’s rarely lonely. Lively is more like it.”  
That explained why Fang could smell so many people in that house. It smelled like an inn. That made Fang smile a little. She always liked the idea of inns. So full of life. So many people going and coming. So many smells, light and warmth, a home, if only for a night.  
Baba smiled back. “I finally got a smile out of you. You’re so lovely when you smile.”  
Fang blushed and quickly turned back to Ash. “I’m not lovely.”  
Baba laughed. “If you say so. I’ll leave you with your friend, then.”  
Ash calmed once she left, and Fang smiled. She said she was lovely.

Atlas studied his maps. It had been a few days now, and he was still trying to figure out exactly where they were. The snow had stopped him from keeping exact notes on their location. Flynn was washing dishes on the other side of the room. The rest of the house was much like the first room. Cozy and wooden with little decoration. It was a nice place, though. And they were kept busy, but not worked too hard. Flynn seemed happy. Atlas was just glad to be out of the snow.   
“We’re right here,” Baba said, placing her finger on the map.  
Atlas jumped a little, he hadn’t noticed her enter the room. He looked at the map. “How are you so sure?” Most people couldn’t read maps well enough to place themselves on one.  
“I was a Guardian for years,” Baba chuckled, “I’ve done my fair share of map reading.”  
Atlas plotted them in the spot she pointed out. “That’s not far from Sapphus at all.”  
“Not in the summer,” Baba nodded. “You’d be surprised how far things end up being in the snow.”  
“I hate the snow,” Atlas groaned.  
“The north has that effect on people,” Baba grinned. “You get used to it, though. It’s a learned science.”  
Atlas snorted. He hadn’t heard much about science since he left Topal. It was nice to know that it existed in other areas of the world.  
“Anything else you need done, Baba?” Flynn asked, approaching them.  
“As a matter of fact,” Baba smiled, “I was just about to head out to get some firewood, if you would like to accompany me.”  
“It would be my pleasure,” Flynn smiled back.  
The two left and Atlas chuckled to himself. Flynn was too nice. He’d done more than Atlas and Fang combined.

The snow didn’t seem nearly as bad when out with Baba. She used her magic to keep it away, but never said anything of it. Flynn enjoyed when they went out for firewood together. It was quiet and relaxing. They just walked through the woods and picked up sticks from under the snow. Baba could dry them out with her magic.  
“Why did you leave the Guardians?” Flynn asked.  
Baba smiled. “I got old. I needed to relax. Get away from the city. I just wanted some peace and quiet is all.” Flynn nodded. “You, on the other hand. That stone you have. It’s not yours, is it?”  
Flynn paused. “It’s not.”  
“You’ve seen loss, haven’t you? I can see it in your eyes.”  
“The one who gave me the ruby. My friend-”  
“Damun?”  
“How did you know?”  
Baba smiled. “You were talking in your sleep. You kept saying that name.”  
Flynn remembered he’d seen Damun in the snow. “He was my friend. Like a big brother to me. He taught me a lot, and gave me everything.”  
“You’re lucky to have had someone like him,” Baba said reassuringly. “Not everyone does. Even though you lost him, be glad you ever had him.”  
Flynn smiled. “I am. Thank you.”

Atlas shivered and rubbed his arms. “Hey Fang, you ever notice how it’s colder in this corner of the house?”  
Fang nodded and joined Atlas in the far corner in the house next to a large fur on the wall. “It smells different too.” Fang put his hand on the fur. “Cold.”  
Atlas pulled the fur aside. There was a massive block of ice instead of a wall. “Well that’s more than a little weird.”  
“What are you two doing?”  
Atlas nearly jumped out of his skin. How was this lady so quiet? “Sorry, we just noticed it was cold. And there’s… uh, ice in the wall. That supposed to be there?”  
“Yes, it is,” Baba stated, approaching. “I’d prefer if you kids didn’t snoop around my house.”  
Now Atlas was curious. “What are you hiding?”  
“Atlas!” Flynn snapped.  
“No, it’s alright,” Baba smiled. She pulled the fur off the wall. “I’ll show you.” She lifted her arm and the block of ice slid out of the wall and she moved it to the other side of the room. Behind the ice stood a door. She gestured for them to go through.  
Flynn put his hand on the door handle. It was cold. So incredibly cold. He pulled the door open. There were stairs. The three of them descended the stairs into a room as cold as ice. The room was dimly lit with blue fire torches. The fire was cold. All of them were speechless. They walked into the room. It was a fairly large room, and there was a film of frost on everything in it. And lined along the walls were children. Their age or younger, all shackled to the wall. Their skin was pale and their lips were blue, their hair covered in frost, but they were breathing. One or two managed to look up and see them, but they could do little else.   
“What is this?” Flynn said, almost to himself.  
“My guests,” Baba said, placing her hands on Flynn and Atlas’s shoulders.  
Fang turned, wild-eyed and lashed out at Baba. She flicked her wrist and the frost below her feet turned to water and caught Fang in the throat, knocking him back. Fang fell on his back and the frost engulfed him, freezing his body to the ground. He struggled, but the ice was too strong. Baba called a snake of water to find its way down Fang’s throat, choking him.  
“What a naughty child you are,” Baba smiled. “You wanted to come down here.”  
“Why do you have children down here!?” Atlas yelled.  
“To keep them fresh,” Baba replied.  
“Fresh…” Flynn whispered.  
Baba grinned. “Nothing is quite as tasty as a child’s flesh. So soft. Supple.”  
“You eat… kids?” Atlas was speechless. “Why did you… keep us here?”  
“You’re a little old for my taste,” Baba explained, “but I was considering it. And I could put you to work. I let you keep your stones because I know you aren’t a threat to me. Not in my own home. I‘ve had decades to master my magic. You‘re just a bunch of kids, after all.”  
“You’re a monster,” Atlas hissed. His glove was sparking. Baba caught him, though. Water shot from the ground and pinned his wrists to the wall with ice.   
Baba approached Flynn. “You’re such a good boy.” She ran her cold fingers along his cheek. “Stay put while I pick a meal for tonight.”  
Flynn fell to his knees. He couldn’t move. He wanted to do something, but he couldn’t. What could he do? She looked at each child in turn. There were thirteen down here, not counting them. How did she do this? She looked at one in the eyes. “This one will go bad soon, I’d better have it now.” It wasn’t an ‘it’ it was a little girl. Flynn clenched his fist. He felt the ruby heating up, hotter than it had ever been, hotter than the day he received it. Suddenly there was fire. Only for an instant, but an incredibly intense fire. So hot that the room wasn’t cold anymore. The frost was gone. The ice was gone. The water was gone. The room was dry. The water vapor itself had been burned out of the air. Baba only had time to turn, wide-eyed before Flynn had pushed her to the ground. His hands were on her throat, fire was erupting from his fingers. Her throat and face were engulfed in flame. He was watching her face melt, listening to her scream, and he didn’t care. He wanted her to burn. Wanted her to die. Then there was a hand pulling him off her.  
“Flynn, stop!” Atlas yelled, ripping him off. Why, why would Atlas stop him? She deserved to die. “There are children watching.” Flynn looked around. The kids were awake now. They were all looking at him. They looked terrified.  
Flynn looked at Baba. Her necklace was shattered. The heat had shattered it. She wasn’t a threat anymore. Her face was falling apart. Burned flesh and bone. She was whimpering. “Leave,” Flynn said coldly. “Get out now.”

Baba stumbled through the snow. She was in more pain than she ever could have imagined. She would freeze to death without her Sapphire. The horses. She could take one of the kids’ horses, she could make it to Sapphus. She stumbled into her stables and pulled open the first one she saw. Yellow eyes stared back at her. And then the wolf was on her, tearing into her, ripping her apart.

It was simple work for Fang to tear the shackles off the children. While Atlas and Flynn got the children fed and in warm clothes Fang retrieved their mounts and disposed of the body she found next to Ash. Once the kids were fed and warm they headed out. Flynn wanted to give them time to rest, but they didn’t have the food to feed them all, so they needed to move. The younger children rode the horses and Ash, while the rest had to walk. This time Flynn wouldn’t run out of energy. As they walked he kept a wall of fire around them. Kept them warm, kept them safe. But the days passed, and even Flynn’s resolve began to weaken. The journey was slow, the snow wasn’t stopping, and it took so much energy to keep the flames up. Flynn was quiet. He didn’t talk to the kids much. They seemed afraid of him. Atlas was the one who was keeping them company. Him and Ash, who the kids all seemed to love.   
Atlas was learning a little about all of the kids, too. Asha and Dianne were sisters, one eleven and the other eight. They were orphans from a nearby village, Asha had followed Dianne into the forest when she wandered off and Baba had taken them.  
Then there was Barry, who was a runaway slave from Emerala, he was ten. He’d sought refuge at the house and never got to leave.  
Ty and Nora were twins from Sapphus who ran away from home and got lost in the woods. They were both nine.  
Annie and Garret were from Emerala, they had run away from their parents because they were ‘in love’ and their parents just didn’t understand. They were only eight.  
Will, Sarah and Hannah didn’t remember who they were. They were also all only six, so it was likely that they had repressed a lot of memories of the traumatic experience.  
And Tina, Harry and Felicia were between three and five, and didn’t seem to fully comprehend the whole situation.  
“You’ve been quiet since we left,” Atlas said, approaching Flynn one night. The kids were all asleep. Asha had put them to bed. She was the oldest of the kids, and took responsibility for them. She was a good girl.  
“I don’t want to scare the kids,” Flynn mumbled, burying his face in his arms.  
Atlas laughed. “I don’t know if you’re trying to seem broody, but you just look embarrassed.”  
“I lost control. I’m scared I might hurt someone…”  
“Flynn, anyone would have,” Atlas assured him. “I would have if she hadn’t pinned me. She deserved to die, Flynn, and she did. I only stopped you because I knew you would regret killing her in front of those kids.”  
He would have. Atlas was a good friend. Flynn managed a smile. “Thank you.”  
Flynn’s resolve was strengthened the next day. But no level of resolve could counter exhaustion and the bitter cold. He pressed on longer than his body would let him, and when Flynn was finally ready to collapse he saw the shadows in the distance. The Guardians approached. Men in heavy cloaks, riding tigers with shining blue Sapphires on their necks. He smiled and lost consciousness.


	8. Sapphus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flynn, Fang and Atlas finally arrive in Sapphus

Chapter 8: Sapphus

Flynn woke. This time he had been the only one who had lost consciousness. Atlas and Fang were by his bedside, as well as one of the Guardians. He looked around. It wasn’t unlike the last room he had woken up in. Wooden, warm, lit by torches, though less homey and more professional. A barracks or an outpost for the Guardians here, he guessed.  
“Flynn, you’re finally awake,” Atlas smiled. Fang smiled too, but quietly.  
“Where are we?” Flynn asked groggily.  
“The outer edge of Sapphus,” the Guardian replied. He looked important. He had long, wavy blue hair and a goatee, and wore elegant scaled gold and white armor with a deep blue cape. He had a sapphire on the necklace he wore. “In our Guardian outpost.”  
“The kids-” Flynn started, trying to get up and getting hit with sudden dizziness.  
“They’re fine,” Atlas replied, grabbing his shoulder to keep him from falling. “All thanks to you. Without your fire we would have all froze to death.”  
There was a knock a the door. The Guardian opened it and a very worried Asha stood in the doorway. “Is Flynn-” she saw Flynn and her eyes widened and she hurriedly rushed off.  
“That was weird,” Atlas chuckled.  
Flynn frowned. “They’re afraid of me.”  
“Flynn, they’re not-” Atlas was cut off by the children all rushing into the room. They piled onto Flynn’s bed, hugging him, but eventually pulled back, and one by one began to thank him.  
When it was Asha’s turn she blushed and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you, Flynn.”  
Flynn was startled. She was cute, with her purple braids and freckles, but he was more surprised that the children hadn’t been scared of him. He felt tears brimming in his eyes and looked away. “Thank you,” He said, trying to hide the fact that he was on the brink of crying.  
“As touching as this is,” the Guardian growled, “you children need to leave. I need to talk to these three.” Reluctantly the children left, Asha stole a final look back at Flynn and they both blushed a little. Once they were gone the Guardian approached. “My name is Vladimir Riverwinter. Chief Guardian of Sapphus. Now, I must ask, who are you three?”  
“My name is Atlas Pennycog,” Atlas said, “these two are Flynn and Fang. We’re Guardian envoys from Topal, Ruban and Emerala. We ran into Baba on our way here, and took care of her and saved those kids.”  
Vlad raised an eyebrow. “You indeed did us a favor taking care of the witch of the woods. Our children can rest safely now. But Guardian envoys? You seem a little young to be Guardians.”  
“In Ruban they train their Guardians from a young age so that they’re ready to accept their rubies at the age of twelve,” Atlas explained without missing a beat. “Fang was awarded an Emerald when he saved Emerala from an attacking creature. As for me, I’m actually thirty-five, but in Topal we never really age past childhood.”  
Vlad couldn’t stop himself from laughing a little. “I’m not sure I believe you, but you do have the magic stones, so I can’t very well dispute that you seem to be Guardians, despite your age.” Flynn couldn’t help but wonder why Atlas was using the same lie that got them sent to jail last time, but it seemed to work better this time, so he would keep quiet for now. “I suppose the queen will want to see you,” Vlad sighed. It actually worked this time. “Once you’re all ready we’ll head out.”  
“Well that was lucky,” Flynn laughed once the Guardian had left the room. “Why would you use the same lie that sent us to jail last time?”  
Atlas grinned. “Come on, what are the chances it would fail twice in a row?”

Once Flynn had gotten cleaned and dressed, the three followed Vlad and two other Guardians out of the outpost. They all mounted up and headed out. Apparently in Sapphus they rode great tigers, deep blue with silver stripes. The moon was high in the sky and the snow was still falling, but waning. The moonlight seemed to make the snow glow and sparkle. Flynn was mesmerized by the beauty until he saw what was hiding beneath the snow. After Ruban and Emerala he should have been used to seeing the slums, but this was a new level of horrifying. He could see the walls of the city in the distance, but first they had to traverse the scattered fur and skin huts that dotted the slums. The houses, streets and people were buried in snow. Families sat around fires and huddled together for warmth. He saw a child trying desperately to light a dying fire, his younger sibling shivering next to him. Flynn snapped his fingers and the fire burst to life. He could help someone, at least. Flynn noticed a lump in the snow. The wind blew and it revealed a woman holding her child in her arms. They had both frozen to death.  
Vlad saw that Flynn and the others were horrified. “The North is an unforgiving place come winter. Not everyone will survive the snows.”  
Flynn clenched his fist. He wanted to help them, but he couldn’t save an entire city of people. He could light their fires, he could melt the snow, but it would come back, the fires would go out, he would die of exhaustion before he changed anything. Finally they made it to the icy walls of Sapphus. With a word from Vlad the gates were opened and they were allowed in. It wasn’t snowing in the city. The buildings were neat and orderly. It was a beautiful, picturesque city made of whites, greys and blues. Small man-made rivers flowed through the streets with bridges over them. The white and grey buildings seemed to glow in the moonlight like the snow.  
“Why isn’t it snowing in the city?” Atlas asked.  
“We have mages around the city keeping the snow out,” Vlad explained.  
“Why is there no one keeping the snow out of the slums?” Flynn asked, a little harsher than he meant it to come out.  
“The Sapphire’s magical influence ends at those walls,” Vlad said, “and Guardians have a duty to serve the queen, the amount of Guardians it would take to stop the snows in the slums would leave none to do our duties.”  
“What about the kids?” Fang asked suddenly. Vlad seemed confused, but Flynn understood.  
“The kids we saved,” Flynn clarified. “Are they just going to be sent to the slums to freeze to death?”  
“The children will be cared for,” Vlad ensured. “We’ll keep them in an orphanage until the snows stop, then we will set out to find their parents or find other housing options.”  
Flynn could find solace in that, at least. But the condition of the slums versus the condition of the city left a nasty pit in his stomach. He let the slaves in Emerala fall to the side, but this… This was too much for him.

They were expecting them at the castle. It was a huge, gorgeous building at the center of Sapphus. Flynn had never been this close to a stone before. He could feel the magical energies in the air. Vlad had sent word ahead, and they were admitted to the throne room quickly. Nobles were lined in seats on either side as they entered. Their mounts had been taken by servants and Vlad was leading them towards the thrones. In the largest throne was a tall, stoic woman, strikingly beautiful in every way, but cold looking. She had long, wavy icy blue hair that was intricately done up. She wore heavy blue and silver eyeshadow on her deep purple eyes, and her skin was pale like the snow. Her dress looked to Flynn like it cost more than he could even imagine, covered in jewels and frills, it was almost hard for him to look at. She wore a silver crown decorated with Sapphires.   
To her right, in a smaller throne was a much more nondescript man. He wore elegant dress as well, but it didn’t catch the eye like hers. His hair and beard were dark blue, but there was little to look at. To her left was a girl around their age, clearly the woman’s daughter. She had the same icy blue, wavy hair, tied in a ponytail, but allowing her bangs to fall to either side of her face. She had the same deep purple eyes and blue and silver eyeshadow, but lighter than her mother’s. She was strikingly beautiful as well, and her dress was much simpler and more form-fitting, revealing her astonishing figure. Almost like she was being presented. On her neck she wore a choker with a round Sapphire on her throat.  
Finally, to the left of the girl stood a boy about their age as well, also obviously related to them. He looked the most out of place, like he had just been plucked form work to be here. He had shaggy ice-blue hair and the same deep purple eyes behind round glasses. His clothes were nice, but they didn’t compare to the majesty of the others, and it certainly seemed like he didn’t care as much about keeping them looking sharp. He had a pleasant smile on, but Flynn could see underneath that he was a little annoyed to have to be here.  
“All rise and bow for her highness, Natasha Riverwinter, Queen of Sapphus and all of its holdings,” the court announcer called. The nobles all rose, as did the Queen. They bowed, and she bowed after. “Her husband, King of Sapphus, Gregory Riverwinter.” The man rose and the bowing happened once again. “The Princess, Rita Riverwinter.” A final round of bowing and everyone sat down.   
Vlad joined them, standing behind the Queen’s seat. “These are Guardian envoys from Emerala, Ruban and Topal,” Vlad said to the Queen. “Fang Vineheart, Flynn Fleischer and Atlas Pennycog.”  
“Thank you, dear brother,” the Queen smiled to him. She looked at them. “Such young children to send to the frigid North as envoys. What exactly is it you’ve come here for?”  
“We desire nothing more than to be allowed to study your people and your culture,” Atlas explained. “Your Grace.” He added.  
She smiled and nodded. “That shouldn’t be a problem at all. We have more than enough free space in the castle, you three should at least stay for the winter. That should be more than enough time to learn of us.”  
Flynn was surprised at how simple this was. She looked cold, but she was kind. He couldn’t stop himself from speaking up. “Your- uh, highness, or Grace, or something. When we came in I saw people frozen out in the slums. Isn’t there some way we could help the- erm, small folk?”  
The Queen and princess looked worried. Vlad looked furious. “The Queen has important duties to attend to here, you will not bring up such trivial matters to her.”  
“I apologize,” the Queen said, trying to soften her brother’s words. “We, the royal family, scarcely have time to leave the castle, I’m afraid I was unaware of the situation beyond the city walls. I don’t usually get reports of the slums. As regrettable as it is, however, my brother is right. I am terribly busy, and I won’t have time to go out and see the trouble for myself any time soon.”  
“I’m not busy,” the princess broke in.  
“Princess, you can’t-” Vlad began.  
“I’ve never left the castle,” the princess stated. “Now I’m beginning to wonder if mother and I should be spending more time out there, and less time cooped up in here. I would like to see what is happening to the people in our slums.”  
“Princess, the magic stops at the wall,” Vlad insisted.  
“But our sovereignty does not,” the princess said coldly. “We should be protecting those people just as we protect those inside the walls.”  
“It is unprecedented for the princess to leave the castle, and to go to the slums, no less!” Vlad growled.  
“I will permit it,” The Queen smiled. “There must be a first time for everything. Rita wants to help the people of the slums, let her go.”  
Vlad sighed in resignation. “Very well. But do not leave until the morrow, I need time to assemble her Guardian detail.”  
The Queen nodded. “Very well.” She looked at Flynn. “You three will be led to your rooms. Tomorrow you and the princess will venture out into the slums, is this acceptable?”  
Flynn nodded. “Thank you, ma’am.”

After they were each led to their rooms, all in the same hallway, so they weren’t far apart, Atlas asked a Guard where he could relieve himself. He’d been holding it the whole meeting. The rooms were nice. Nicer than he’d had back home, but he was used to luxury. Flynn and Fang were probably bouncing off the walls. When he got to the lavatory he immediately noticed how different it was from back home. Rather than troughs or bucket there were bowls filled with water. At first he thought they might be for washing hands, but they clearly seemed to be seats. So he relieved himself into the water, like peeing in a lake, he supposed. Maybe the water sound was supposed to be soothing? He noticed a chain to the side of the bowl. Curiosity caught him and he pulled it. There was a woosh and the water was gone. Atlas stared wide-eyed as clean water rushed back into the bowl.   
“What just happened!?” Atlas exclaimed, jumping back out of the stall. He heard a laugh behind him and turned to see the boy who had been standing at the meeting. He was laughing so hard he was crying. Only now did Atlas notice the sapphire necklace he wore.  
“That’s plumbing, dude!” He laughed.  
“What?” Atlas frowned.  
“You don’t have it where you’re from? Where do you piss?”  
“I mean, usually a bucket or something that the servants take out later.”  
“Oh, wow,” He snickered. “Wash your hands, man.”  
Atlas looked at the strange metal tubes the boy was pointing towards. There were knobs next to them. He moved one and water began to spout from the metal tube. Atlas did his best to not show surprise this time. He didn’t need to be laughed at again. He put his hands into the running water. It was incredibly hot. He pulled his hands out and the boy laughed again. Atlas glared at him. He walked over and adjusted the knobs.  
“You need to set the temperature, you just turned on the hot water.”  
Atlas washed his hands and the boy tossed him a towel to dry. “I saw you up there with the royal family, but they didn’t introduce you. And you don’t really seem to fit in with them.”  
He adjusted his glasses. “My name is Demitri Riverwinter. I’m the Queen’s nephew. Kind of. My dad is her brother, the Captain of the Guardians, Vladimir Riverwinter, but my mom was just a lady from the slums. I lived out there until they let me live in the castle after I invented a way to move water through pipes without magic at every step.”  
Atlas raised an eyebrow. “You’re a scientist?”  
Demitri smiled and showed off his sapphire. “It’s why they gave me this. You?”  
Atlas grinned back. “I’m not my brother, but I’m known as a bit of an inventor myself.”  
“How would you like to check out my workshop?” Demi asked.  
“I would be honored.” Atlas was itching to see what Sapphus science looked like. This plumbing thing that they had was already getting his mind racing.

Atlas was amazed at the technological advancements that Sapphus had made. Demi was showing him some amazing things. Topal’s focus was on electricity, while Sapphus focused on water and steam power. Ruban had used steam as well, but they were more interested in the fires and coals heating the water than what the steam could do. Sapphus, on the other hand, found some really interesting ways to use water in all of its forms. After what seemed like only a few moments, but what in reality was a few hours of Atlas discussing science and technologies with Demi, Atlas produced his pistol from its holster.  
“Do you think you could help me out with something?” Atlas asked.  
“Woah! What is that thing?” Demi asked excitedly.  
“A pistol,” Atlas grinned. “A weapon we use in Topal. It uses gunpowder to fire a lead ball out of a metal tube, basically.”  
“Amazing,” Demi said to himself, examining the gun. “We don’t have gunpowder here, but maybe I could make something like it using pressurized steam… hmm…” Demi shook his head. “Anyway, what did you want help with?”  
Atlas frowned, “When it rains my gun doesn’t work. The gunpowder gets wet and it won’t go off. I figure you work with water a lot, you have any ideas as to how to waterproof this thing?”  
Demi grinned. “Dude, waterproofing? Easy. Wait until you see me work my magic.”

It wasn’t until he saw the morning’s sun through the window that Atlas realized he should probably go to bed. He and Demi had been up all night tinkering and talking and debating. It felt so good to finally have someone he could talk to about this kind of stuff. And he was learning so many new things. He had barely laid down for bed when he heard a knock on his door, and Flynn calling to him.  
“Atlas! Atlas, have you pooped yet!? It is so cool!”  
Atlas couldn’t stop himself from laughing. He got out of bed and opened the door. “It’s called plumbing. I learned all about it last night. I’ll tell you about it some other time.” He yawned. “I need to get some sleep.”  
Flynn nodded. “So you aren’t going to come out to the slums with us today, then?”  
Atlas shook his head. “You’ve got that covered, right man? Sorry, I just lost track of time. If I come along I’ll just be falling asleep in the saddle.”  
“Alright, I’ll see you tonight then,” Flynn smiled.

It wasn’t long before Flynn, Fang and the princess were mounted up and heading through the city, along with four Guardian guards. The guards kept their distance, forming a perimeter, and allowing the kids an air of privacy. As they rode Fang made sure Flynn was always between himself and the princess. Flynn noticed that the tiger the princess rode was white as freshly fallen snow with deep blue stripes, unlike the blue and silver tigers the others rode. The people they passed looked on in awe, though more at the Guardians than at the princess herself. She had said she had never left the castle before, they likely had no idea what she looked like.  
“Have you really never left the castle before?” Flynn asked.  
The princess nodded. “It’s tradition for the royal family to leave the castle as little as possible. The Queen is typically the only one who ever leaves, and even then only in the summer. They say it’s for our protection.”  
“You sound like you don’t believe that.”  
She looked at their detail of guards. “What would I know, I’m still a child.”  
Flynn smirked. Atlas had taught him to recognize a clever lie. “I’m surprised you’re so calm. When I first left the walls of my city I couldn’t stop grinning.”  
The princess smiled. “We’re taught to hide our emotions. Shows less weakness or something.” She looked up, and Flynn noticed the glint in her eye. Her face showed only a gentle smile, but he knew amazement when he saw it in someone’s eyes.  
Flynn looked up, and it truly was amazing. The way the snow fell was dazzling. As if a dome covered the city, it fell and twisted and dispersed away, leaving a moving canvas of dancing snowflakes that would never fall on them. “Beautiful,” he whispered.  
“It really is…” the princess smiled.  
As they continued their walk Flynn filled the princess in on the specifics of what happened at Baba’s cabin, and the journey with the children that followed. Finally, after a longer journey than he thought it would have been, they reached the gate.  
“Princess, are you sure you want to go out there?” one of her guards asked.  
“Yes, I am sure, open the gate,” she commanded.  
The gate opened, and Flynn could see the princess’s heart drop. Just like the night before, the people were freezing, cold, huddled around fires and buried in snow. The princess rode out past her guards and looked around hurriedly at the people. Once Flynn and the guards caught up he could see that she was holding back tears.  
“Princess, you have seen it, now return to the castle, please,” the guard said.  
“Return?” she asked through clenched teeth. “I did not come here to observe the common poor person in his natural environment. These are my people! They are dying, freezing, and I mean to do something about it!”  
“What is there to do, princess?” The guard insisted.  
The princess glared at him, and violently extended her arms to either side. The snow around her blew away. A huge radius of snow was pushed out and up. The people looked up, startled. The snow flew through the air and condensed more and more and more until it was nothing but a palm-sized ball floating above her hand. Flynn was amazed, he had never seen such magical control. She had cleared the area around her of snow without hurting the people, and condensed such a massive amount of snow into a ball of ice no bigger than a hand. “Hold out your hand.”  
“Princess-”  
“Hold. Out. Your. Hand.”  
The guards extended his hand. She placed the ball of ice in his palm. As soon as her magic left it his arm dropped. He fell to the ground trying to lift it. She looked around again at the people, and closed her eyes tightly. “How can I rule a city when I can’t even help my people?”  
“You’ll find a way to do something,” Flynn insisted.  
She looked at the snow falling. It was already replacing the snow she had cleared away. She looked to the Guard who was now getting back to his feet. “I know we cannot spare enough Guardians to keep all of the snow off of the slums, but we can spare some. I want men stationed out here. A few to each district, on rotation, keeping at least some of the snow off. And I want them helping people. Give out blankets. Light fires. If people are freezing to death, keep them warm. Understood?”  
The guard nodded solemnly. “Understood, ma’am.”  
She looked back at Flynn. “And the children they helped. I want them in the castle until winter lets out and we can find their parents. They deserve better than some hovel. They’ve been through too much already.”  
“Yes, ma’am.”

They spent the rest of the day clearing away snow and lighting fires. The people were grateful, and Flynn couldn’t help but smile. When they got back Flynn found Atlas and told him all about it.  
“She’s a good princess,” Flynn smiled. “She’ll make a good Queen one day.”  
Atlas frowned. “Be careful around her.”  
Flynn frowned back. “What are you talking about?”  
“I don’t trust her,” Atlas replied. “People like her are always up to no good. They seduce you with those good deeds, and then when you trust them they betray you. Like Baba did.”  
Flynn looked him. “You’re being ridiculous. She’s just a kid like us.”  
“Is she?” Atlas snapped. “Look at the size of her- er, I mean, she’s very… mature. For supposedly being our age. Women like her are always trying to use… assets like those to trick guys like you and get ahead!”  
“First of all, not okay to dislike someone because they’ve developed well,” Flynn sighed, “and it’s a little weird. Secondly, she’s a princess, she doesn’t have anywhere to get ahead to. She’s as ahead as it gets.”  
“Just be careful, okay?” Atlas groaned. “You should know, I know better than anyone when someone can’t be trusted.”  
“You’re being paranoid,” Flynn frowned. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
Flynn left, and Atlas wanted to hit himself. He laid back in his bed. He was being paranoid. He knew that. He closed his eyes and saw her face. The princess. The Queen. He shuddered. They reminded him of his mother. And he hated that.


	9. Secrets of the Sapphire City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continued adventures of Flynn, Atlas and Fang in the city of Sapphus

Chapter 9: Secrets of the Sapphire City

“Do you have any maps?” Atlas asked one day while he and Demitri were working in the workshop. Atlas had started to spend most of his days down there. He only really saw Flynn and Fang at the end of the day when they were going to their rooms.  
“Maps?” Demi asked, looking through his things. “Yeah, I have a few, why?”  
Atlas took the maps and looked at them. They were all mostly incomplete scribbles compared to the ones he made, but he had come to expect that. It was tough to find cartographers willing to brave monsters and bandits just to make something no one would likely ever buy. “I need to try and figure out where the last city is. Every record says there are five cities for five magical stones, but I have yet to find any sort of clue as to where this last one could be. Do you read maps?”  
Demi grinned and raised an eyebrow. “Do I read maps? Dude, my dad is a Guardian, if he taught me nothing else he taught me to read maps. And before you ask, yes, I can help you figure this out, scoot over.”  
Demi squeezed onto the bench next to Atlas, and they both couldn’t help by smile. Atlas wasn’t used to having someone who he could talk to like this. It was nice. It was like talking to himself, but more satisfying.

“How many things don’t I know about this city?” Rita asked absently as she and Flynn ate breakfast. An entire dining hall was reserved just for the kids, but Flynn and the princess were the only ones who ever used it. Fang took his meals in the stable with Ash, and Atlas and Demitri were always in the workshop. Fang was keeping to himself. He didn’t seem comfortable around the princess, and spent most of his time wandering around and exploring the city and the castle. Flynn and Rita had gotten to know each other quite well because of that. Today, at Rita’s continued insistence, the orphans were finally allowed into the dining hall with them. It was loud an raucous, but Flynn loved that. It was lively. He had really grown to care for all of the kids, even Asha, who couldn’t really look at him without blushing. Flynn had told Rita nearly all his stories about his adventures. About Damun, and what happened to him, the masked man, meeting Atlas and Fang, all of it. He had been worried at first, about telling the truth, but as it turned out, Rita and her mother already knew they weren’t Guardians, and just said to keep quiet about it. Even if everyone knew it was a lie, as long as no one says it, it’s fine. Flynn had laughed at that. It felt like something Atlas would say.  
“What do you mean?” Flynn asked as he defended his food from one of the smaller children.  
“I had no idea there were people suffering in the slums,” she explained, giving the child a sausage from her plate to sate him, “how many other things are happening that I don’t know about?”  
Flynn frowned. “You’re right. Why does Vlad keep this stuff from you? He’s so-”  
“He’s not so bad,” she smiled. “I know he comes off as stuffy and mean and crass and secretive, but he’s just protective of us. He’s really a nice guy.”  
“Doesn’t seem like it,” Flynn chuckled scornfully, “guess he just hates us.”  
“Oh no, he loves you!” Rita giggled, “he actually let me leave the castle without him in my personal escort, he trusts you more than he trusts most people.”  
“So why does he keep things from you, if he’s such a good guy?” Flynn asked.  
Rita shrugged. “Part of it, I’m sure, is tradition. Guardians care more about keeping us safe, and not letting us worry, than they care about what’s good for the people. And another part…” She trailed off. “Demi’s mom. She was a commoner he met on patrol. He loved her. But she died of disease when Demi was still young. Vlad visited often, but he wasn’t allowed to bring him here until he proved himself useful enough. Even then, he shouldn’t have been able to, but he pulled some strings. That’s why Demi isn’t really treated like the rest of the royal family.”  
Flynn nodded. “That’s sad. But at least he gets to be safe and warm now.” He looked at the kids around them. All of them could be safe and warm now, and in this world it seemed like you could wish for little else.  
Rita looked at Flynn and grinned. “Do you want to go out tonight?”  
“Out where? You’ll need a Guardian detail, we probably can’t until tomorrow.”  
“No,” Rita sighed, “I mean sneak out! You, me, Fang, let’s go explore the city! I want to see what else is going on in my city! See the seedy underbelly, like you read about in books.”  
Flynn shrugged. “I don’t read much.”  
“You know what I mean!” Rita laughed. “Come on, are you up for it?”  
Flynn smiled. He was glad she was taking initiative like this. Trying to fix the city. Were the rulers of every city like this? “Yeah, let’s do it.”

That night Flynn heard a tap on his window. It was Rita. She was dressed in her least attention-attracting clothes, he supposed. A pair of pants and a tunic, both of which only looked to cost around one-hundred times more than the clothes Flynn wore. He opened the window. “How did you get down here?” He asked.  
She swept her arm around, and water flew out of the large canteen she wore on her hip and created an icy bridge between his balcony and Fang’s. “Shall we go get our accomplice?” She asked with a grin.  
Flynn wanted to suggest they bring Atlas, but he knew he was probably still in the workshop. If he ever bothered coming to his room at all it was never until the crack of dawn. So the two walked across the ice bridge and got Fang. He came along, but he seemed uncomfortable and skittish about the whole thing. Flynn said he could stay back if he wanted, but he shook his head and said it would be fine. It was easy enough to sneak out of the castle. Rita knew her way around it like the back of her hand. She knew the patrols of the guards and even when they went to the bathroom.  
Once they were on the streets Rita began to look around excitedly. She was a princess around her subjects, but when she was alone with them she let herself be just a teenage girl. Flynn liked the change. She seemed so much more genuine.  
“Where do we start?” Rita asked. “The city is so big! There must be thousands of things going on right now!”  
“Well, if you were looking to stop crime like you read about in books,” Flynn said thoughtfully, “maybe the outer sections of the city would be better. I know from experience that people without anything will do bad things to get money.”  
Rita frowned. “But aren’t the poor people oppressed enough without me barging in?”  
“Try the middle class,” Fang mumbled.  
“What was that?” Rita asked.  
Fang froze. “Er… the middle.” Fang said slowly. “In Emerala the poor people just stole. And the upper class do things you can’t just punch away. But the middle class did bad things that you could… stop.”  
Rita smiled. “Well then, let’s see if it’s the same here, then!”

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Demi said as he stared at Atlas, “why do you have water wheels on your clothes?”  
Atlas furrowed his brow. “What?”  
Demi poked one of the bronze cogs on his shirt. “That. The water wheel.”  
Atlas laughed. “That’s not a water wheel, it’s a cog! In Topal we use them in our machines. One moves and the others follow. it’s pretty cool, I can show you sometime.”  
“Yeah,” Demi smiled. “it’s funny how the same shape means different things to us, because of where we’re from.”  
Atlas nodded. It was that kind of cultural difference that made Atlas love traveling and discovering new things about the world and how the different cultures worked. He remembered when he first met Flynn. He had no idea what the cog could possibly be. He didn’t even know what bronze was, in Ruban they only used iron.  
Atlas heard the door to the workshop open and turned to see Vlad enter. “You boys are still up tinkering, huh?” He said, looking around. He seemed a little out of his element, surrounded by all of the contraptions.  
“Yeah, dad, like every night,” Demi sighed. “To what do I owe the pleasure of actually seeing my father for once?”  
Vlad’s face hardened into a frown. “You know very well I make as much time to see you as I can. I am a very busy man.”  
“All those imaginary threats to the Queen must really take a long time to stop, huh?” Demi muttered.  
Vlad pretended not to hear, but Atlas saw his jaw clench. “You two don’t happen to know where the princess is, do you? Her handmaid said she wasn’t in her room when she last stopped by.”  
Demi shrugged. “Beats me, Rita slips out to wander the castle all the time, I wouldn’t worry about it.”  
Vlad raised an eyebrow. “She does?”  
Demi realized he said something he shouldn’t have. “I mean, when we were younger we may have… done some exploring of the castle. Look, the point is, she’s fine, I’m sure of it.”  
Vlad frowned. He was good at frowning. “I’ll have some Guardians looking for her, just in case.”  
“So you have staff to look for a princess who might just be in the bathroom, but not to keep people in the slums from freezing to death?” Demi snickered, full of resentment, “your priorities are dead-on. Next can you get them to help me find a button I lost? My shirt just doesn’t look right without it.”  
Vlad slammed his fist on the table in anger, then suddenly pulled back, looking embarrassed. “I need to look for the princess.” He turned and left, his cape following in a flurry behind him.  
“What was that all about?” Atlas asked.  
“My dad and I don’t always get along,” Demi replied, returning to his work.  
“I know the feeling,” Atlas chuckled. “My dad barely spoke to me, but my mom and I… well, we weren’t really on good terms.”  
“My mom and I got along fine,” Demi said, “but then she got sick and died and my dad didn’t do anything to help her. Bastard. Brought me here, but he ignores me half the time.”  
“There was a week my mom didn’t let me eat because I got second place in my school science fair,” Atlas replied.  
Demi looked up. “You’re kidding, right?”  
Atlas shook his head. “She said I would get smarter if I learned to use my brain, even when I wasn’t properly fed. She locked me in a workshop without food until I made something better than the kid who won.”  
“Well,” Demi sighed, “I guess I lose the ‘who has the shittiest parent’ game. Somehow I don’t really feel like I lost though.”  
Atlas sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. Thinking about his mother always gave him a headache. “You really think the princess is alright?” Atlas asked.  
Demi laughed. “Her and I used to sneak around the castle all the time as kids. And even if she did sneak out, she’s probably stronger than most of the Guardians, she’ll be fine.”  
Atlas laughed. Somehow, though, he felt like Flynn was about to get himself into trouble.

“I’m not sure I ever properly thanked you for taking care of the Witch of the Woods for us,” Rita said as the three of them traveled into the middle districts of the city, looking for suspicious activity.  
“Was she really that much of a problem?” Flynn asked.  
“More of a myth, really,” Rita replied.  
“What do you mean?”  
“I only know what my uncle Vlad has told me,” Rita explained, “but apparently she was a great Guardian once. He even said he looked up to her. One of the best we’ve ever had. And one day a group of our best Guardians were sent on a ship to the northern seas. They were sent to explore, to see what was out there, but they never came back. But some people say that they saw her, years later, walk out of the icy waters. Some say they saw her frozen in the ice, but when they would look again she was gone. And then the disappearances started. And people said they saw her in a cabin in the woods, but any time guardians went looking for her the house would be gone, or they would get lost in the woods, like the snow was keeping them away. Of course, you saw her and killed her, so I guess she really was real.”  
“It’s hard to believe that a great guardian could become the woman we saw,” Flynn frowned.  
Rita nodded. “Whatever happened to her in the northern sea must have… changed her.”  
There was a crash in the distance. The three kids looked at each other briefly and then ran towards the source of the noise.

The crash had been a porcelain pot hitting the ground. Three rough-and-tumble looking men were harassing an old woman who seemed to own a shop selling such pots.   
“Come on, lady, you’re two months behind on payments. You better pay up or the boss is gonna have to come here himself, and you don’t want that to happen, do you?” one of the thugs said. The lady was too busy cowering in fear to reply.  
The thug reached for his dagger, but Rita was faster. The water from her canteen leapt out and snatched the dagger out of its sheathe. It flew through the air and Rita caught it. All three thugs turned to look at them. “Should you guys really be picking on helpless old ladies? Because it does not look cool. Looks sad to me,” she said. Flynn could tell she was loving playing the hero.  
“And who are you three kids?” another one of the thugs scoffed.  
“Just some passing do-gooders,” Rita grinned.   
The thug talking now unsheathed his dagger. “Look, you kids better scram and leave us to business, or we’ll have to hurt you. And I gotta say, hurting kids ain’t really my style. I might even feel bad about it.” They didn’t move. “Shoot, I gue-” Rita didn’t let him finish. In a flash her water caught him by the neck and pulled his head hard into the ground. It bounced off the stone with a hard crack and the other thugs, stupefied as they were, were called into action.  
The one whose dagger was in Rita’s possession pulled water from a nearby channel and sent a spear of ice at Rita. She conjured her own barrier of ice and it shattered on impact. Suddenly the ice shards were flying the other direction, stabbing into the thug who had fired the spear in the first place. The other thug was running at them, and Rita’s ice wall melted and reformed as an icy patch beneath his feet, causing him to slip and fall. The ice wrapped itself around his ankles and wrists, holding him in place. The thug who had been stabbed by his own ice tried to run, but Rita caught his leg with a tendril of water and he fell on his face, cracking his head against the ground. All of this happened before Flynn could draw his sword. He was impressed.  
“Thank you so much!” The old woman said, running to Rita. “Is there any way I could ever repay you?”  
“Oh no,” Rita smiled, “it’s all in a night’s work for us, we’re just trying to weed out crime.”   
With two of the thugs unconscious from severe head wounds, Rita approached the one she had shackled to the ground. “So,” she said, pulling his head up by the hair, “you three mentioned a boss. I assume, then, you are part of some sort of organization, tell me where I can find this boss of yours.”  
The thug spat at her face, but she stopped it before it could hit her and sent it back into his face. “Why would I tell you little shits anything!”  
She smiled. “Because if you don’t, my friend here is going to start burning parts of your body until you talk.” She looked at Flynn.  
Flynn was pretty sure she was talking about him, so he did his best to look intimidating, and summoned a flame in his hand. “I- I ain’t scared!” The thug stuttered.  
“Flynn, start with his face,” Rita said coldly.  
Flynn really didn’t want to torture this guy, but he knew they had to seem unified, so he slowly brought his burning hand towards the thug’s face. When the flame was inches from his nose he screamed. “The sewers! The sewers! Sapphire save me, we’re in the sewers! You can find the boss there, I swear, just don’t burn my face!”  
Flynn and Rita both let out a sigh of relief. Neither of them wanted that to happen, it seemed. “Glad you could be reasonable,” Rita said, and slammed his head into the ground hard enough to knock him out.  
“Were you actually about to have me burn that guy?” Flynn asked.  
“No way!” Rita exclaimed, “I just wanted to scare him! Who burns someone’s face for harassing an old woman? That was scary. But also kind of awesome! I am liking this hero thing.”  
Flynn couldn’t lie, he liked it too. They were helping people just for the sake of helping people, Atlas never let them do that, they always had to be rewarded.  
“So, to the sewers, then?” Rita smiled, standing up.  
Flynn smiled back. “Yeah.”  
“So we aren’t burning anyone?” Fang asked, sounding a little disappointed.  
They left the thugs shackled to the ground with chains of stone conjured by Fang and headed for the sewers.

Flynn learned that sewers were the place that waste went. All the poo and pee apparently filtered into the rivers of dirty water that flowed in large arched passageways beneath the city. “The sewers are so big because we used to have workers stationed all throughout them to move the water,” Rita explained. “Before Demi figured out how to improve things so that we didn’t need magic at every step of the way.”  
Apparently if they followed the flow of the sewage they would make their way to a massive room where the waste used to be manually filtered out of the water, which was now done at a separate location above-ground. Rita figured that the large, abandoned room was likely the home base of anyone who was living in the sewers.  
After several minutes of walking they came across what appeared to be a guard outpost for the criminals. Four men sat talking on each walkway to either side of the river of waste, all armed with swords. They looked up when the kids approached. One stood up. “You kids doing some urban exploration? If so, turn around, nothing to see past here. it’s dangerous.”  
“Are you with the criminals?” Rita asked.  
He raised an eyebrow. “Criminals? What are you talking about? I guess we perform some less-than-legal activities, yeah. But it’s all for the good of Sapphus. Who are you kids?”  
“The good of Sapphus?” Rita growled, “harassing old women and breaking things is your idea of what’s good for the city?”  
He grinned. “If she don’t pay the fees, somebody’s gotta do something about it, sweetheart.”  
“I will not stand for crime like this in my city!” Rita said in her commanding princess voice.  
“Your city?” The guard laughed, “who do you think you are?”  
“Rita Anastasia Riverwinter, Princess of Sapphus and its lands, and heir to the throne. Now put down your weapons and come quietly to jail, or I will have no choice but to use force.”  
His grin got wider, and the other men stood up, all drawing their swords. “The friggin’ princess just walked into out base! And it ain’t even my birthday! We were just talking about kidnapping you, but I guess you saved us the trouble.”  
Flynn drew his sword. The thugs rushed at them, and Flynn ran to intercept them. Fang ran and jumped over the river of sewage to get to the guards at the other side, but they brought up a wall of ice to stop him. Rita made a pulling motion with her hand and the wall crumbled and Fang landed on one of the thugs, tearing into him.  
Flynn had nearly made it to one of the guards when he brought a lance of dirty water out of the river. Flynn sidestepped it and it splashed on the ground, but the droplets chased after him, sharpening into spears. Rita grabbed the water out of the thug’s grip and repurposed it to stop another guard who was trying to flank Flynn. The thug had been so focused on his magic that Flynn’s attack caught him off guard. He managed to block it, but only barely. He stumbled back and Flynn tripped him up and slammed his head hard with the pommel of his sword has he fell to the ground. Flynn whirled around and caught the sword of the other thug who Rita had slowed. He parried the blow easily and stabbed him in the shoulder of his sword arm, causing him to drop his weapon and fall to his knees in pain. One of the thugs got past Flynn, but he managed to stop the fourth by firing a jet of flames at him. None of the thugs were terribly skilled with a sword, so it was an easy enough task to disarm him and knock him out.  
Flynn turned just as Rita was pulling water from the river. The water she pulled was clean and clear, not like the water the thugs had used. He supposed it was a difference in their level of magic. The water formed into a spear of ice with three points and blades on either side just as the thug reached her. He slashed at her, but she blocked with a small ice barrier. His sword rang off the ice and he recoiled as she brought the points of her spear into his leg, then ripped it out and slashed into his sword arm, sending his weapon flying into the water.   
Flynn and Rita regrouped and looked across the filthy river to see Fang standing amidst four bloody bodies. At least what Flynn assumed were once bodies. It was often hard to tell once Fang was done.  
“Oh my…’ Rita gasped.  
“He does that…” Flynn smiled uncomfortably. “I want to say you get used to it, but… not really.”  
Fang shackled up the remaining guards and they continued on into the heart of the sewers. 

The room was bigger than Flynn had expected. It was a huge circle with several levels of walkways all around. In the middle was a huge hole where the rivers drained, and funneled into a smaller hole, creating a sort of perpetual whirlpool. There were people everywhere. It was like a city of tents. All across the upper levels, above the backlash of the whirlpool of waste people conglomerated. At first Flynn assumed that they were all members of this criminal organization, but upon closer look it was clear that most of them were simply homeless people.  
“What is going on here?” Rita said to herself, astonished at what she saw.  
“These aren’t criminals,” Flynn said. “They’re just…”  
“How could I never have known this was just beneath my feet this whole time!?” Rita almost yelled. It seemed like there were tears in her eyes. She was angry and sad, Flynn could see. He wanted to help. She approached one of the homeless. A dirty woman holding her child. “Why are you living down here in the sewers? it’s filthy.” Rita asked.  
The woman looked at her strangely. “Better than freezing to death out there. Snuck through the wall, we did. No snow down here. Shit, sure, but shit don’t kill you if you be careful enough.”  
“We’re driving people to live in… this,” Rita muttered. “What kind of city is this when we leave people to freeze to death! When we force them into sewers to survive!”  
“Rita, calm down,” Flynn pleaded. “Let’s take care of this boss guy first, then we can talk to your family about fixing this problem.”  
Rita looked at him. “You’re right. One thing at a time. We need to find-”  
“Me?” A man approached. He was tall with long, snow-white hair. He wore a motley cloak of furs. “Don’t think I don’t know who you are, princess,” he said. “I can’t believe you would actually leave the comfort of your castle to come find me.”  
Rita glared at him. “You must be the boss we’ve been hearing about. Are you the leader of this whole place?”  
He shook his head. “I lead our resistance, but the people were here long before I was. We were simply allowed by them to make our base here.”  
“Resistance? Who are you?” Rita frowned.  
“I am Charles Verndadt. We are revolutionaries. You and your family- this royal family that has ruled us for far too long- are a poison to this city. I created this rebellion to take you all down. To bring this city to where it needs to go.”  
“By threatening people?” Rita hissed.  
“A revolution is not free. We need a source of income,” Charles explained. “Killing queens is an expensive business to get into.”  
Rita looked around. “I can’t argue that there are things wrong with this city, but I can’t sit by while you kill my mother and steal from people.”  
He laughed. “Not just your mother. I am afraid that we must eradicate the entire family line to assure there are no more rebel queens trying to take their city back.”  
Flynn realized that in this time they had been surrounded. More revolutionaries than he could count, all armed. Charles had been stalling, waiting for his men to surround them.  
“Kill them,” He said, stepping back. “Leave the princess alive. I will take her head myself.”  
Flynn drew his sword. The revolutionaries moved in. He wasn’t as good at fighting groups as Fang was. He would need to try and separate them and take them one by one. They attacked. He was almost instantly overwhelmed. Swords everywhere. Fire erupted from him. People were catching fire, burning. He had to be careful not to hurt any of the innocent civilians, but he didn’t have the luxury of trying to keep the revolutionaries alive. Fang was making short work of the thugs on his side, as he always did. Rita noticed and couldn’t help but grin.  
“Nice moves, Fang!” She called out. Fang froze and took a kick to his stomach, stumbling back. “uh…”  
“I probably should have told you before,” Flynn said to Rita, “Fang’s one weakness is compliments.”  
Fang managed to recover and get back into the groove. He was easily doing the majority of the work, but for once Flynn didn’t feel insignificant, just glad to be alive. He and Rita were holding their own. Flynn looked around when he had a moment of respite. Where had Charles gone? He had disappeared in the confusion. When Flynn saw him he was even more confused. He was standing, his back to the giant hole in the middle of the room, his eyes closed like he was concentrating. Then the water came. A massive torrent of all of the sewage around them rose behind Charles. He was smiling at them as the wave descended.  
“Rita!” Flynn yelled out. Could she stop this? She had to. Her Sapphire gave her a higher level of magic than anyone else here.   
Rita lifted her arms and the wave stopped in place. She and Charles were struggling for control. The revolutionaries were closing in on her. But why? She should have been able to easily wrench control of the wave from Charles. Rita stole a short glance at him, and Flynn realized what she was doing. She was waiting. Once all of the revolutionaries were around her she could take them out all at once without hurting the civilians. If she pretended to be struggling then they would all come to her, but they wouldn’t kill her, only Charles was allowed that.   
And then the moment came. She was surrounded. And then- A spear of ice pierced Charles’s heart. The water fell for a moment, and then became a storm of ice spikes, tearing through the revolutionaries. Blood and ice splattered and shattered across the ground. Rita looked terrified. Suddenly Guardians were storming in, cutting down the revolutionaries that had survived the ice storm. Vlad grabbed Rita’s shoulder and wrenched her around.  
“What are you doing down here!” He demanded.  
“What am I doing!?” Rita exclaimed, “what are you doing!? Why did you kill him!”  
“He was about to kill you, what did you expect me to do?”  
“I had it under control!” Rita growled, “I was trying to take him alive, we could have talked to him, bargained with him, but now he’s dead!”  
“As is his revolution,” Vlad growled. “We’ve taken out their leader and nearly all of their soldiers, it is over and done with. There is no negotiation to be done here.”  
“And what about all of these people?” Rita hissed.  
“They will be appropriately punished for harboring revolutionaries.”  
“No, they will not!” Rita commanded, her powerful voice echoing through the room and bringing everyone to silence. “They were forced to come here because of the neglect you and your guardians gave the slums in the first place. I will not have them punished on top of that. We need to make this right!”  
Vlad’s jaw tightened. “We will discuss this tomorrow with your mother. For now the three of you return to the castle. With a Guardian escort. If I were allowed to make the decision your friends here would face execution, but our Queen will likely disagree.”  
Flynn, Rita and Fang were taken out of the sewers by a group of guardians as the rest of them finished up in the purifying room. Flynn looked over to Rita and saw tears streaming down her face. But she had her princess face on again. Flynn was surprised they didn’t freeze on such a cold face.


	10. Child of the Sapphire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final stories in the Sapphire city.

Chapter 10: The Child of the Sapphire

In the end the Queen didn’t have Flynn or Fang charged with any crimes. It was decided that Rita had been the instigator, and so the others should not be punished. Rita was given a stern talking-to, and a few more guards were added to her everyday detail, but the repercussions of the incident were few, though Rita and Vlad’s relationship certainly seemed to suffer. The homeless in the sewers were not punished either, and at Rita’s insistence the Queen agreed that they should be helped, though exactly how to go about that was a mystery to all of them. New homes don’t just appear, and the city was crowded enough as it was. At the very least they would be kept fed for now, until a more permanent solution could be figured out. Some chose to return to outside the walls, where the conditions had improved considerably, but many chose to stay in the sewers.  
It had been quite some time since all of that happened now. Fang wasn’t sure just how long, but he’d heard the others saying that they were now in the tail-end of winter, and the worst of the storms had passed, so they would likely be leaving soon. Atlas just needed to figure out where they were going. Fang couldn’t wait to leave. He felt so cramped here. They let Ash out once a day to stretch his legs, but even then he was in a pen, and Fang didn’t feel any more free than him. The walls of the city were just as much a cage. He wanted to be out fighting monsters and running through fields and forests, not wandering around a city every day.   
“Ah, Fang, there you are!” It was a kindly old woman who Fang saw often when he walked the streets. “You’re a little late today,” the woman laughed. Fang said nothing. He never did. Her cat cuddled up to Fang’s leg and purred. Fang had saved the cat when a box had nearly crushed it once, and the old woman had been grateful ever since. “I’ve got some stew on, if you’d like some.” Fang nodded.  
For the next hour or so Fang sat with the old woman and silently listened to her talk as he ate the stew and played with the cat. When he left the woman seemed happy, he was glad. She had a nice smile, even if she was missing teeth. Her husband had died a few years back and her kids were off on their own, so she was lonely. Fang didn’t mind keeping her company. And the cat was cute.  
Fang walked a little farther and a ball rolled into his leg. He looked over and saw a group of young boys grinning at him. They were all younger than him, and fang knew all of their faces. They played here almost every day, the ball rolling to him wasn’t an accident. “Fang!” One of the boys called, “want to play?”  
Fang picked up the ball and nodded. “Fang’s on my team this time!” One of the boys yelled.  
“No fair, he should be on my team, we have to have Victor!” another retorted.  
“Hey!” Victor snapped. They all laughed.  
Fang played with them for awhile. An hour or two, probably. Until they had to go home for lunch. Playing with the kids was fun. It wasn’t fighting monsters, but it was fun, even if he had to hold back. He was surprised they still wanted him to play. Whichever team he was on always won, why was it still fun for them when they already knew the outcome?  
When Fang passed the Guardian outpost the captain on duty called out to him. “Fang, you looking to stretch your legs a bit? I’ve got some recruits that could really benefit from a good whooping!”  
Fang nodded. It had started as a joke. A guardian had challenged Fang to a practice match, they thought they would beat him easily because he was a child, but once they realized how strong he was they had started using him to train their soldiers. They said that Fang was the guardian they should all strive to be. It was never a challenge to beat them, but at least it was combat, even if he wasn’t allowed to kill them. It was a nice change of pace every once in a while, and the guardians seemed to be grateful.  
On his way back to the castle Fang always made sure to walk down a certain street. There was a certain something he always liked to look at. It was in the window of a certain store. He looked in the window- and it was gone. The dress was gone. He stopped in his tracks and stared at the dress that had replaced it. It wasn’t the same. The colors weren’t the same, the pattern was wrong, the details weren’t right. She had looked at that dress every day and it always made her smile. She didn’t know why, but it did. It was a pretty dress.  
The woman working at the shop noticed Fang staring and approached. They had never spoken but they had seen each other nearly every day. She was pretty. “We changed the displays today, sorry you can’t look at the dress anymore. I tried to get the boss to keep it in the window for you, but she said since no one was buying it we would get rid of it.”  
Fang frowned.  
“Did you want to buy it?” The woman smiled.  
Fang shook his head vigorously. He didn’t want to buy it or wear it or anything, he just wanted to look at it. It was pretty, he liked looking at pretty things. Wearing a dress would be constricting and uncomfortable, but seeing it was such a nice change.  
The woman looked sad. “You just wanted to look at it, huh? I was really hoping you would buy it one day. You would look good in it.”  
Fang blushed and took a step back, almost as if he were preparing to fight.  
The woman smiled. “Maybe I’ll buy it before we throw it out. It is a cute dress. And then maybe you can still see it sometimes.”  
Fang didn’t know what to say. He clenched his teeth. There was something you were supposed to say. “Th-… Thank… you…” Fang grumbled under her breath, then suddenly bolted off down the street.

Flynn should have been used to seeing things that amazed and astounded him, but the funny thing about being amazed is that you never do get used to it. Every year on this day (the seventh day of the month of Waning Storms, whatever that meant) all of Sapphus had a festival. All throughout the city and even in the castle courtyard festivities were set up. Stalls with games, and performers dancing or having a magic show, it was amazing. He had never seen anything like it in Ruban, any festivals they had never extended to the outer ring. Apparently this festival was celebrating a time hundreds of years ago when the first Guardian of the Sapphire appeared and single-handedly defended the city from the greatest storm ever seen. Though back then it wasn’t so much a city as just a settlement around the Sapphire. Many of the games even seemed to be inspired by this story. One in particular where children tried to defend a small model town as the people running the booth fired powdery snow at it.  
But Flynn’s favorite part was that they all got to be together. It was the one time of the year that the Queen and her family got to be out free among the people. Back then there was no royalty, so it was customary on this day for the royal family to masquerade as ordinary citizens. Though Vlad and his guardians still kept watch on them from afar. And for once Atlas and Demi even left the workshop.   
“That doesn’t look very hard,” Atlas said, looking at a game some of the orphans they had saved were playing, involving using magic to catch a fish in a small pool and transport it into a fishbowl. If you succeeded you got to keep it.  
“It’s designed for kids,” Demi explained, “a lot of these games are about teaching kids to control magic.”  
Flynn had noticed. He approached Asha, who was encouraging the younger kids. “Having fun?” He asked with a smile.  
She was startled, but smiled back and nodded. “The kids are doing well. Dianne even caught one!”  
“I’ve never seen a festival like this before,” He said, looking around.  
“We grew up nearby, so our parents took us to the festival a couple of times before they passed away, but I’ve never been so close to the castle before. We always had to stay in the outer edges of the city.”  
Flynn nodded, and was trying to think of something else to say when Atlas grabbed his arm. “Flynn, come look at these guys, they’re amazing!” He said, pulling him away. Flynn instinctively took Asha by the hand, dragging her behind. She yelped and almost pulled back, but smiled and went along.  
The others were already gathered around the performers. Ice Dancers, they were called. It was beautiful. They were dancing and using ice and water to make it the most dazzling performance Flynn had ever seen. They slid across the icy ground at first, but they continued to escalate it, rising, going up and down on winding tracks, looping, throwing each other. The ice would melt and reform in an instant, one moment whipping around, the next moment frozen in the air, water droplets turning to snowflakes, icicles turning to water and suspending them in the air.  
Asha swallowed hard. The dancers had made a sphere of water and were swimming through it, jumping out and landing in like dolphins, but that wasn’t what Asha was paying attention to. She was staring at Flynn’s hand. He had dragged her here, but let go once they got there. But he held her hand. What would he do if she… Her hand inched towards his. Why couldn’t she just grab his hand? What was she so scared of? Her hand was shaking as it came closer, it was hard to breathe, but in a good way. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was ready. But when she opened her eyes his hand was gone. She looked up. Atlas had pulled him away to get a better angle to see the dancers. She smiled sadly. Of course. She wasn’t like them. She could talk with Flynn, and laugh with him, but in the end she was just a girl and they were… heroes. They lived a world apart from her. She took one last look at the ice dancers, their final move it seemed, a mountain of ice shattering into millions of ice crystals floating through the air, and she turned back to return to the kids. She may not be a hero like them, but she had her role to play all her own. She was just an admirer, and she was okay with that.

The night was coming to an end, the festival was slowly winding down. Asha and the younger kids had gone to bed, but the rest were still wandering around. They had agreed that They wanted to see the festival through to the end, since it was likely the last that many of them would see.  
“There you are!” Fang recognized the voice- the girl from the dress shop. He turned to the source of the call. She was wearing the dress. She was wearing the dress. Fang stepped back. He wanted to run, but she also wanted to look at the dress, and the girl wearing it. “I’ve been trying to find you the whole festival,” she smiled. “I thought maybe you lived near the shop, but I guess not.” Fang couldn’t stop staring at the dress. The girl smiled. “You like it? The green doesn’t really fit in with the festival, but I thought you’d like to see it, and it is such a pretty dress.” She twirled around. Fang thought she would explode. Her face was hot and her head and chest were pounding. Seeing it move, seeing it on a person, it was too… real.  
She looked at Fang with a sheepish smile. Fang knew he was supposed to say something here. “Y-you…” he trailed off. “You look nice.” It was almost a whisper, but the words came out.  
“Thank you,” She smiled. She brushed the hair off of fang’s forehead and gave her a light kiss on the head. “So do you.” Fang was completely frozen as she walked off. He couldn’t even begin to understand the situation that had just happened. Too much stimulus.  
“Wow, Fang,” Atlas grinned, “you get yourself a girlfriend? Where have you been going all day?”  
Fang made a small sound somewhere between a squeak and a grunt and fell to his knees.  
“Is he broken?” Demi asked.  
Atlas frowned. “Well, a compliment freezes him in place, I guess a kiss just shuts him off.”  
Flynn looked up at the sky. The snows had waned, but there was still a powdery moving mosaic of snow fluttering beneath the stars and above the city. It was like the stars themselves were moving around. He looked at his friends and his smile widened. “I’m glad we could all be her together,” He said.  
“Me too, buddy,” Atlas grinned, putting his arm around Flynn.  
Fang looked up and managed a small smile. Demi laughed and punched Atlas on the shoulder. Rita smiled, but it seemed fake. She hadn’t been quite the same since the night they snuck out. Pensive, worried, even angry. Flynn stopped himself from frowning. Just for now, he let them all at least pretend to be happy.

“That was fun,” Atlas said as he and Demi entered the workshop.  
Demi shrugged, “If you’re into that kind of thing. I have to go every year, so it’s lost a bit of its luster for me.”  
“Flynn and Fang really seemed to enjoy it,” Atlas said, looking at the maps they had been working on. He sighed. “All this time and we’re still no closer to finding that last city .”  
“I’ve got some thoughts on that, actually,” Demi said, joining him. “We deduced that it should be here, right?” He put his finger on the center of the map, in the middle of all the other cities. “All the other cities are equidistant in this diamond shape, so it makes sense that it would be in the center of them all, where it would be the same distance away. But no maps show a city there, there are no settlements or regions that aren’t accounted for, and no one had ever even claimed to have seen someone from this phantom fifth city.”  
“Right,” Atlas said, “we’ve covered all of that.”  
“What if we’re approaching this too scientifically?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Tonight was all about the stories, celebrating the story of the first Guardian of the Sapphire, so I got to thinking about stories,” Demi explained. “That’s where the basis for the whole ‘fifth city’ thing comes from in the first place. Five stones, five elements, five cities, five Guardians in the stories. And seeing as how you’ve heard similar stories confirmed from people who have lived in all four of the cities we know of, we can assume there’s some truth to it. Now our stories never really went into detail about the other Guardians, because each city has stories focused on itself, obviously. But they do still mention this last city. Think hard about the stories. When the five original Guardians had their summit they each rode in. The Guardian of the Sapphire rode in on a great white tiger, just like the royal family rides. The Guardian of the Topaz rode in on a lion. The Ruby’s Guardian rode a horse, and the earth Guardian rode a Direwolf. All of these you have confirmed to be real forms of transportation in these areas. So what did the last Guardian ride?”  
Atlas frowned. “You’re asking me to remember a story I heard from my nanny when I was a kid?”  
“Come on, I’m going somewhere with this,” Demi smiled.  
“Okay, okay,” Atlas sighed. “Uh, it was… a griffin, I think. The last Guardian rode in on a griffin.”  
Demi nodded with a grin. “And what is the missing element?”  
“Wind.” Atlas’s eyes widened. “You can’t be suggesting-”  
“Atlas, if you were putting a city of wind somewhere, where would you put it?”  
“But that’s-”  
“The city of ice and water is in a frozen tundra by a sea. Your city of lighting is past the Thundering Planes, at the foot of mountains that are constantly storming. Ruban is hot and just north of a desert, and Emerala is surrounded by stone, forests and jungle. The stories say that the stones created life and shaped the world, which would make sense that they’re all in places that fit their elements. So Atlas, where is the city of wind?”  
Atlas stopped and stared at him. Then a smile crept onto his face, getting wider and wider until he was grinning from ear to ear. “The sky.”  
Demi grinned right back. He slammed his finger down on the map. “It’s not here,” he lifted his finger into the air above the map, “it’s here!”  
“That is going to be hard to chart,” Atlas chuckled. “But this is ridiculous, how can a city be in the sky?”  
“After all the stories you’ve told me, all your adventures, and the impossible things you’ve seen, are you really telling me you don’t think that a stone with the power of wind could keep a city afloat? That explains everything. Why no one has seen it, why no one had seen anyone from there. They live in the sky, of course we haven’t seen them!”  
“Demi, if you’re right…”  
“Then you’re going to a city in the sky, dude!” Demi exclaimed. He fell back into his chair. “Man, I am so friggin’ jealous!”  
Atlas sat down. They’d figured it out. He looked at Demi. “You… you don’t have to be jealous.”  
“Why not?” Demi frowned. “You’re going to a flying city, man. That’s pretty awesome.”  
Atlas looked him in the eyes. “Come with me.”

Flynn was about to disrobe and go to sleep when he heard a rapping on his window. He looked over to see Rita, and was suddenly thankful she hadn’t come a few moments later. He opened the window and let her in.  
“What are you doing here?” he asked. “If the Guardians find you sneaking out again you’ll be in a lot of trouble.”  
“I’m not trying to sneak out,” she assured him. “I just wanted to talk to you.”  
Flynn nodded and gestured for her to sit on the bed. He took a seat in the chair. “What do you want to talk about?”  
She took a shaky breath in. She looked so sad. Not a cold princess face, but her real face. Broken, trying not to cry or scream. “During the festival… watching the ice dancers, playing the games… everything. Seeing everyone smile and laugh… How can you all keep doing that? After what I’ve seen- I couldn’t help but think of the people starving and dying, how could I enjoy a festival when there are people living in sewers and freezing to death in my city? And you and the others have seen even worse things than I have! How can you keep smiling and laughing with each other after everything you’ve seen and done!?”  
Flynn was a little shocked at how worked up she had gotten, but he smiled nonetheless. “Someone very important once told me ‘remember to smile’ and I will always remember that,” he said.  
“Damun”  
Flynn nodded. “And it might sound… silly, but it’s important. I know how horrible this world can seem when you see all of these awful things. And I have seen some awful things. The person closest to me died in front of me, I’ve seen bandits and slaves and power-mad Guardians. I’ve seen a woman who eats children, I’ve seen awful, awful things. And it would be so easy to see the world as dark and disturbed and to cry and hide and run… but because of all of those horrible things I’ve been able to see the good in people too. I had someone care about me enough to sacrifice his life to save me. A boy who didn’t care about anything but money and self-preservation risked his life to help me. An escaped slave running free for the first time and seeing new things. Because of Baba’s evil I was able to see a little girl rise to the challenge and become a mother to a group of orphans. So yes, there are awful people and awful things in the world, but all of those awful things put the good things in perspective.  
“You can’t spend your whole life frowning and crying, you’d never live your life. Don’t forget the bad things, work to fix them. Make sure they don’t happen again. But let yourself enjoy the good things too. Yes, the hardships in this city are awful, but those ice dancers were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The bad things don’t cancel out the good. Experience everything for what it is. Does that… make sense?” He smiled.  
She couldn’t help but smile back. Then she laughed, and she couldn’t stop laughing. Finally, once her sides hurt and she could barely breathe, she managed to stop. “Those ice dancers really were beautiful,” She said. She looked at him. “How am I supposed to run a city when I know nothing about the world? I’ve read books, sure. I’ve read so many books, but it’s nothing like the real thing. Really seeing criminals and people suffering… You say the bad things put the good things in perspective, but I don’t have a perspective. I’ve been cooped up in a castle my whole life! This is what’s wrong with this city. Sure, my mother means well, but she’s just as sheltered and naïve as I am.”  
“So find your perspective,” Flynn smiled, “leave the castle. Leave the city. Come with us.”  
She looked at him like he was crazy. “Flynn, I can’t just leave, I’m the princess.”  
Flynn shrugged. “You said yourself that you don’t really have any obligations here. You’re just here to be put on display, right?”  
She stared at the ground, her mind racing. Finally she looked at him. “Yes. Yes, I’ll go. I want to see the world. I don’t want to be trapped here for the rest of my life. I want to run this city, but I want to run it right. I want to fix mistakes, I want to find my perspective so I can do things right!”

“Atlas…” Demi trailed off. “Atlas, I can’t go with you.”  
“What?” Atlas frowned, “why not?”  
“Atlas, I’m not a fighter,” Demi sighed, “I’m an inventor. You guys get yourselves into trouble all of the time, I’d just slow you down or end up getting myself killed.”  
“Fang and Flynn are more than enough to take care of anything we could possibly run into,” he assured.  
Demi laughed. “Atlas, I can’t leave. I have a job here. Without me the city would fall apart. You’ve seen what I do. I’m always busy, always working. As great as it would be to explore the world with you, I need to help my city first.”  
Atlas looked hurt. “But they treat you-”  
“Not well, yeah,” Demi sighed, “but I’m not in it for the praise or recognition. I’m in it to help people. Right now I’m working on a way to heat the slums without the need for magic. I don’t need to be patted on the back, I just want to make sure families aren’t freezing out there.”  
Atlas clenched his fist. “So you won’t come?”  
Demi shook his head. “Sorry, Atlas. I have too much to do here.”  
Atlas stood and left without another word. Demi sat back in his chair and sighed. 

“Mother,” Rita said. She had requested a private audience with the Queen. No one else would see or hear, not even the Guardians.  
“Yes, my sweet,” The Queen smiled. “What would you like to talk about?”  
“I…” She had been thinking about how to phrase this for days now. Ever since she had discussed it with Flynn. She had to be strong, assertive. “I want to go adventuring with Flynn and the others. I want to learn about the world so I can become a better Queen.”  
Her mother looked at her skeptically. “Rita, since the founding of this city no member of the royal family has left the city without being a member of the Guardians. And even then, never an heir. It’s unprecedented.”  
“So was my leaving the castle,” Rita replied, “but you let that happen. Mother, you know where this city is going. We are naïve, we need to expand out horizons. If you had been allowed to travel the world when you were my age, don’t you think you would have been a better Queen?”  
Her mother sighed. “Rita, what I would have done or been is out of question. The facts are, the Guardians would never let you leave, and it would be irresponsible of me both as a Queen and a mother to allow you to leave with a group of boys whom I truly barely know.”  
“So… You won’t allow me to go?” Rita said forlornly. She had to think of another way to convince her, she had to. Think, Rita, think!  
“My hands are tied,” the Queen said, shaking her head. “I cannot give you my permission to go. It would be highly irresponsible. After your last fiasco, sneaking out we have learned that you are far too good at getting away from your guards. What would I possibly do if you were to sneak away again when those boys were leaving?” She looked at her daughter with a knowing smile and winked.  
Rita grinned from ear to ear. “Mother, thank you! Thank you so much!”  
“For what?” The Queen asked innocently, “I’ve forbade you from leaving, after all. Don’t take any opportunities just because all of the Guardians will be assigned to clipping my rose bushes that day.”

Only a week after the festival it was time for them to leave. The storms had waned, and the worst of winter was behind them. Not to mention they were all eager to find this fabled city in the sky. The Queen held a banquet for them. Everyone showed except for the Princess. It seemed like every Guardian in the city was there. The banquet lasted longer than they had expected, though Flynn learned that the kids would be escorted home soon, once they were sure the outside was safe enough for travel with non-guardians.   
After the banquet all of the kids found their way to Demi’s workshop for the more private party. It mostly involved all of the kids thanking Flynn and giving him random pieces of junk they had found or made as presents. Fang kept to himself and Atlas said his goodbyes to Demi.  
“One more thing,” Demi said, producing two packages wrapped in paper. One was a small cube while the other was more cylindrical. “I got you some things you might need. This one first.” He handed him the cylinder.  
Atlas opened it and smiled. He had seen one like it before. They used them up here when they were at sea to see things far away. “A telescope.”  
“I figured you could use it when looking for a city in the sky. I imagine it’ll be pretty far away,” Demi shrugged.  
“Thanks a lot,” Atlas smiled back. “So the other one…” He started to open it, and noticed Demi blushing. Beneath the paper was a small wooden jewelry box. He opened it and inside was a small copper cog on a chain. A necklace. He picked it up and looked at it. “A cog?”  
Demi smiled and pulled a matching necklace from underneath his shirt, though this one was silver. “Or a waterwheel,”  
The two laughed out loud and Demi hugged Atlas tightly. They didn’t need to speak, they knew how much they would miss each other.  
They were getting read to leave the workshop when Asha stopped Flynn. She had yet to sing his praises like all the other kids. She had been oddly silent. She took his hand and pressed a square of cloth into it. A red handkerchief. “The fabric reminded me of you. Good luck,” was all she said.  
Flynn smiled and hugged her. “Thank you.”  
And they were gone. They mounted up and left. The Guardians were back to their posts, it seemed. It would be a long time before Atlas and Flynn saw Demi and Asha, and as they rode through the middle of town a surprising amount of people seemed to be waving at Fang, who hid his face in Ash’s fur to hide the redness. Even the Guardian who opened the gate gave Fang a nod and said goodbye.  
It was an oddly silent ride out. It seemed all of them were thinking only of the things they were leaving behind. That is, until they met the girl riding the white tiger. It was perhaps an hour south of the city they came across her. She wore a white hood, but when she took it off she revealed herself to be the princess. Flynn smiled.  
“Glad you could make it,” he said.  
“Glad you’re willing to have me,” she smiled back.  
Atlas looked from Flynn to Rita and back. “Hold on, is that the princess? Why is she here?”


	11. Well Excuse Me, Princess!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rita joins the gang as they leave Sapphus.

Chapter 11: Well Excuse Me, Princess!

Rita’s first day with the team was rather uneventful. The snow had stopped and the sun was beating down hard enough to melt what was on the ground. They were traveling south, but had yet to hit much more than trees and snow. Shiva, her tiger, had no trouble keeping up with the other mounts, especially not in the snow. Here she was at an advantage. It was where she had lived her whole life.  
When time came to set up camp Flynn and Fang left to spar while Atlas doodled in his book, making maps, apparently. Rita kind of wanted to ask to see, but she didn’t know Atlas too well, so decided against it. She had offered to make the fire tonight, since she could dry out the firewood. She was clearing the snow and moisture from the area she planned to use as a fire pit when Atlas approached her.   
“You done with your map?” She asked, smiling. She wanted to make a good impression, they would be traveling together for awhile. Better not to step on any toes.  
He glared at her. “I’m watching you, princess.”  
Apparently he didn’t have quite the same idea. “Excuse me?” She asked, trying her best to sound polite despite her sudden urge to smack him. Why such animosity? What had she done to him?  
“You may have convinced Flynn you’re a good girl, but I can see past that,” He growled coldly. “I know your type. People like you are always trying to stab someone in the back.”  
She was taken aback, to say the least. Demi had said such nice things about him. She hadn’t expected him to be such an ass. Then it hit her. He’d avoided her, and her mother too. In fact, he only ever spent time with Demi and Flynn. She’d even seen him speak with Vlad once or twice. “People like me?” She asked. “You mean women?”  
“I don’t need to explain myself to you!” He snapped. Yes, women. “Just know that your feminine wiles aren’t going to work on me, princess.” He said princess like it was an insult.  
Now she was mad. Politeness wasn’t getting her anywhere with him. “When have I ever tried to use my feminine wiles on anyone?” She snapped right back. “Personally, I think when a woman uses sex to get her way she’s making women everywhere look bad. I am far from that kind of girl, Atlas, and I would prefer you not make boorish assumptions of me just because you think you know my type!”  
“I wasn’t consulted about you joining the team,” Atlas hissed, “but now that you’re here I’ll keep a close eye on you. If you hurt Flynn I’ll kill you.”  
Rita couldn’t help but laugh. Where was he getting all these ideas of her? “What the heck did your mother do to you to make you hate women like this?”  
“We are not talking about her!” He yelled. Whoops, apparently she hit the Sea serpent in the eye.  
“Now everything makes sense,” Rita grinned. “You’re just so full of mommy issues that you can’t stand women, huh?”  
“It’s not like I hate women or anything,” He said defensively, “I just don’t… trust some of them.”  
“Look,” Rita sighed, “I’m sure your mother was the worst person Topal had ever seen, and whatever hatred you have for her is plenty justified, but there is no reason for you to hate me because your mother was mean to you. I’m nothing like her.”  
He clenched his jaw and glowered at her. “Just watch your step.”  
She shook her head. This was pointless. “I’m going to get firewood. Don’t worry, I’ll collect it like a man would. I won’t go seducing all of the trees to get their branches like some sort of woman.”  
Atlas sat back and opened his book as she left. What in the world was he doing? She hadn’t done anything wrong, but he couldn’t help but loathe her, just seeing her. He closed his eyes and saw his mother’s face. He threw his book at a tree in anger.

Rita was still cooling her head as she collected wood. What gave Atlas the right to treat her that way? What was wrong with him? She just hoped the tension wouldn’t last forever. They were traveling companions, after all. She heard a noise behind her and looked to see a palm-sized stone nestled in the snow. It was clear it had just landed there, and stones didn’t fall from trees. She looked around and saw Fang crouched behind a tree, staring at her intently.  
“I thought you were with Flynn, Rita smiled. No response. She looked at the rock. “Is this yours?” A pause. Fang nodded. “How did it… get over here, exactly?”  
Fang clenched her teeth a grumbled. “I… dropped it.”  
Rita looked at the rock and then at Fang. “You dropped it… fifteen feet away from you?” Fang nodded. “Would you like it back?” Fang blushed and nodded hurriedly. Rita smiled and picked up the rock. She brought it to Fang and placed it in her hand. “You know, if you want to get my attention you don’t have to throw rocks at me, you can just ask.”  
Fang seemed flustered. “I- er… I um, I don’t know how to… talk to… pretty girls.”  
Rita giggled a little. That was sweet. “Why not? You’re a pretty girl.”  
“No I’m not!” Fang growled, hopping back like she was ready to fight. “I’m strong.” She didn’t seem offended, more defensive. Scared, even.  
“You’re a strong, pretty girl then,” Rita said. “One does not cancel out the other.”  
“I’m not a girl,” Fang grumbled.  
Rita looked at her. Sure, she wasn’t very well developed, but any way she looked at it she was, biologically, at least, a girl. It wasn’t unheard of in Sapphus, people who identified as a different gender than they were born. But something seemed off here. Fang seemed almost scared to admit she was a girl. Why? “You’re a boy?” she asked. Fang nodded, but didn‘t exactly seem sure. “I don’t mean to pry, but why is it you don’t want to be a girl?”  
Fang looked at the ground. Speaking was hard for him, she saw. It wasn’t just that he was uncomfortable speaking to her, but it was speech in general that was an issue. She waited patiently while Fang found the words. Battle was natural, socialization was not. “Men are strong. When I was a girl… men could hurt me. When I’m a boy… I hurt them.”  
Rita knew enough about fang’s past to piece together what that meant. She was an escaped slave. Her parents were killed in front of her. Emerala only had male guardians, and from what she had heard they weren’t exactly good people. To Fang male meant strong and female meant weak. Men had hurt her, taken from her, abused and enslaved her. Rather than hate men like some in her position might, she chose to fight fire with fire. If she were a man she would be strong like them. It left a bitter taste in Rita’s mouth. That was such tiger-shit. There was no reason a woman couldn’t be strong. But it was only a hunch, and she didn’t want to put pressure on Fang to be something she- or he- didn’t want to be. “Is that the whole reason?” She asked sweetly.  
“Boy slaves…” Fang said slowly, “boys get to go outside. Do hard work. Girls have to stay inside and cook. I could explore and play in the woods if I was a boy. Less caged.”  
Restrictions was the word she was looking for. But Rita knew what she meant. She had to tread lightly here. “Fang… girls can be strong too, you know. It’s not just boys. I don’t want to make you think you should be one way or another, or that one way is right or wrong, I just want you to know that there’s nothing wrong with being a girl. You’re not a slave anymore, and being a girl wouldn’t make you any weaker.”  
“It’s not like I want to be a boy,” Fang mumbled quickly, “or a girl. I don’t care. But everyone else does, so I picked one. I’m just… sometimes I feel like a boy and sometimes I feel like a girl, but that confuses people. So I say I’m a boy.”  
Now Fang was opening up. Rita couldn’t help but smile. “You shouldn’t worry about what other people think. You just be what you want to be. Whatever you feel like in the moment. And even if everyone else is confused, I want you to know that you can always be yourself around me. I will never judge you or tell you what you should be, okay? If you want to be a boy or a girl or neither at all, I’ll always be here for you, okay?”  
Fang smiled and blushed and made a strange noise before finally speaking. “Thank you.”  
Then she was gone. Hopped up into a tree and ran off, Rita thought she heard her giggling. Or the closest sound Fang could produce that seemed like a giggle. Rita stood up and turned back to camp. She had her firewood, and she had a few words for Atlas.

Rita threw the wood down on the dry patch she had made and glared at Atlas. He looked up from his book. “That’s my job, princess.” He had calmed himself down, it seemed.  
She wanted to yell at him, but she sighed. “I can’t be mad at you.”  
He raised an eyebrow. “Really? Because you look mad.”  
“I am, but I can’t blame you, you’re just an idiot,” She grumbled.  
“I take offense to that, I’m kind of a genius.”  
“When you found out Fang was a girl,” Rita said, “and she said she was a boy, you just accepted it and cut off the conversation there.”  
“What, you wanted me to tell him he wasn’t?” Atlas snapped, getting up, “I for one am not about to tell my friend that he’s not allowed to be a boy!”  
“That’s not what I mean!” Rita yelled. “And don’t make it sound like you really had Fang’s feelings at heart! You might have convinced yourself you were helping her, but what you were really doing was preventing a girl from being in your group! And all you did, by refusing to talk to Fang about it was make Fang think that she had to be a boy.”  
“That makes no sense!” Atlas exclaimed. “All I said was that I would call him a boy until he said otherwise.”  
“We’re talking about Fang, Atlas,” Rita sighed. “Fang doesn’t know what that means. She just took it to mean that you accept her as a boy, so she should stay that way or you might change your mind.”  
“Okay, so I messed up because I can’t read the mind of a wild kid, why does this matter?”  
“Because I need you to start being more accepting of who Fang really is,” Rita explained.  
“When have I ever not accepted Fang?”  
“I’m not saying you have, but I know you’re a sexist jerk, so I want to make sure that if Fang is feeling like a girl you treat her like one, and don’t go trying to make her be a boy just because you want to be around less girls.”  
“I am not sexist!” Atlas snapped.  
“You’re pretty sexist.”  
“I don’t think girls are less than guys or anything, I just don’t trust certain women.”  
“That’s still sexist.”  
“Are we done here?” Atlas sighed.  
“As long as you’re willing to cooperate.”  
“Yeah, fine, no biggie. I got it,” Atlas said, shrugging her off and returning to his maps.  
She couldn’t blame Atlas, most people would have done the same, she was sure, and if it weren’t Fang he might not have been wrong. Fang was certainly an outlier, it seemed. She had never read anything about anyone with issues quite like hers. Gender crisis wasn’t usually something that came from having your family murdered. It was new ground for her. It was a little exciting. This would be an interesting journey, it seemed.

They finally came across a town about a week after they had set out. It was a moderately large town, still being so relatively close to Sapphus, and the trees in the area were beginning to wane to make way for southern fields. This could be where Asha and her sister had been from, Flynn thought. It was unlikely, but it was a thought. Once they had replenished their supplies they found an inn to stay at. They had the gold for it, luckily it didn’t matter where in the world you were, everyone loved the clink of shiny coins.   
“Do you want some?” Rita asked with a smile when she noticed Fang staring at her food. They were eating in the tavern under the inn. Fang had ordered a slab of meat, like she always did, but seemed intrigued by Rita’s fruit and vegetables. Fang shook her head. “You sure? It’s good, I promise. You can’t live off only meat all the time.” Rita speared an assortment of foods from her plate and held her fork over Fang’s plate, as if to offer her to put it on. Fang stared at it for a long moment before suddenly leaning forward and eating right off Rita’s fork. Rita was surprised, but laughed. The realization of what Fang had just done dawned on her and she turned bright red and pulled back, almost choking on the food. “That bad?” Rita frowned.  
“No!” Fang blurted out, tomato juice and lettuce spilling from her mouth. “No, ish good!” Fang coughed. “Wrong way.”  
Rita patted her on the back and she leapt out of her chair and fell on the ground.  
“Remember when we used to just talk while we ate?” Atlas sighed, looking to Flynn.  
“It’s more fun this way,” Flynn laughed. “So much more lively with all four of us, don’t you think?”  
“I suppose,” Atlas shrugged.  
He looked over his shoulder and saw a group of men walk into the tavern. Something was off about them. Rita had noticed as well. They were all wearing swords and fur or leather armor. It was a farming town, but they had seen a surprising number of men like these in the streets. One or two wouldn’t be too odd, adventurers were uncommon, but they existed. So many armed men in a place like this, though, was strange. The only time Atlas had seen something like it was in bandit camps. The men approached the innkeeper and talked to him. He seemed distressed. He took out a sack of gold and offered them a piece. One of the men shook his head. The innkeeper gave him a few more. He shook his head again. The innkeeper reached into the sack again, but now the man grabbed it from him. Gold coins clattered onto the floor. Everyone was looking now, but most were trying to keep their heads down.   
One of the coins rolled into Atlas’s boot. He picked it up and looked at it. One of theirs, from Emerala. It didn’t sit right with him that these bandits- he’s sure they were bandits- were taking their money, even if they’d already spent it. The first bandit was still harassing the innkeeper, telling him to clean up the mess he made, but one of the others was approaching Atlas.  
“Hey, kiddo, no taking our gold. That’ll get you a time-out. Hand it over,” the bandit said to him.  
He didn’t take kindly to being ordered around or being treated like a child. Atlas stood up and smiled. He placed the coin on his thumb. “How about a game? You call it right you can have it back.” Before the man could reply Atlas flicked the coin into the air. As he was watching the coin spin Atlas drew his pistol and aimed it at the man’s chest. The coin hit the ground and The man saw Atlas’s gun. Everyone in the tavern was looking at them now. “Looks like you lost the wager. Better run while you can.”  
The man took a step back and started drawing his sword. Atlas pulled back the hammer on his pistol, but Rita was faster. A stream of water slammed into the man’s chest, sending him stumbling back. Atlas wanted to yell at her, it wasn’t her place to get in the way- then he saw what she was doing. As the water splashed off him it held several concentrated streams, each one homing in on one of the other two men. Atlas grinned. He sent a powerful bolt of lightning at the man, it surged through the water, and all three of the bandits were taken down at the same time.  
He looked to Rita and smiled. “Y’know, I might hate you, but our powers work great together.”  
She smiled back. “I wouldn’t have used the word hate, but I share the sentiment.”  
“What are you kids doing!?” the innkeeper exclaimed, “Azar will have my head for this!”  
“Who is Azar?” Rita asked. “Who were these men?”  
“He’s the bandit warlord who’s been running this town,” the innkeeper growled under his breath, “these were his men, here to collect his ‘protection’ money. Torture money, more like it. And you killed them! Get out before you cause any more trouble!”  
“Just kill him,” Fang suggested.  
The innkeeper looked at him like he was crazy. “You’re welcome to try. We’re farmers and merchants here, there’s not much we can do against bandits.”  
“But we can,” Atlas said, showing off his topaz, “for our own price.”

It took a seriously silver tongue, but Atlas managed to convince the innkeeper to contact Azar and tell him there were troublemakers afoot. It would be easy money, they were used to taking care of bandits, and they could use the gold, what he and Flynn made from that bandit camp on the way to Emerala wouldn’t last forever. Once Azar was approaching, however, Atlas began to worry. It was obvious which one he was immediately. He stood perhaps seven feet tall, and was built like a Boarilla. He had a massive iron sword strapped to his back that looked like it would take two men just to lift, and a smirk on his lips. His hair was long, straight and crimson like Flynn’s, partially tied back out of his face. His skin was tan and his eyes were red. He wasn’t from around here, he was from Ruban. His face and body were covered in scars, and Atlas wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not. He’d seen a lot of battle, sure, but he’d gotten hit a lot too. Then again, none of those hits killed him. And some of them looked pretty bad.   
It wasn’t just him though, he came with what must have been twenty men, all armed to the teeth. He looked at the kids and couldn’t help but laugh. “The troublemakers are just a bunch of kids? I didn’t even need to bring my men, I could just tell your parents on you.”  
“Leave this town now, and we won’t have to hurt you,” Atlas sounded much surer than he really was. He didn’t like the fact that someone from Ruban was all this way up north, it didn’t sit right with him.  
“You’re cute,” Azar snorted. He stepped back. “Boys, take care of them, I don’t feel like getting my hands dirty today.”  
Despite the selfishness of the request, his men charged forward without hesitation. What kind of man was he to inspire such loyalty? They were just kids, he supposed- no threat. They were wrong. They realized that about the time Fang snapped a man’s neck with a kick to his head. It didn’t stop them though, just put them on guard. Still, against these grunts they would be fine. They had fought much worse and survived. Rita and Atlas continued to exploit their combined powers, as any time Rita hit and didn’t kill, her target and anyone in the area became susceptible to Atlas’s lightning. It gave him an idea.  
“Fang,” he called, “vines, now!” They knew each other well enough that he got the picture. Fang slammed his foot into the ground and vines shot up and wrapped themselves around four men. “Flynn, fire!” He shot flamed from his hands at the vines and they caught instantly, engulfing the men in flames in a moment. It wasn’t just Rita and Atlas, Fang could fuel Flynn’s fire. He began to wonder what other kinds of combinations they could make, but now was not the time to try them out.   
After Flynn cut down the last man they all looked to Azar. He had been watching. Learning. He didn’t seem at all perturbed at the death of his men. Like he knew it would happen. If he had noticed their stones, maybe he had. He looked Flynn in the eyes and grinned. “I’d recognized that shiny sword and golden bracelet anywhere. But you aren’t Damun. You must be the brat he was always going on about. Did he just give them to you or did you steal them? Did he go and get himself killed?”  
Flynn looked angry but not surprised. Had he recognized him? “How do you know Damun?”  
Azar pulled his sleeve back to reveal a silver bracelet with a ruby embedded in it. No one had mentioned that he had a stone- things might get bad. “Most Guardians know each other. I guess we’re both ex-guardians now, though.”  
Atlas could tell from the look on Flynn’s face that he had indeed recognized him and was just now realizing why- he had been a Guardian in his city. “I find it hard to believe that someone like you used to be a guardian,” Atlas chimed in. He didn’t find it hard to believe at all, but he was fishing for information.   
“It pays better to be a bandit, I’m afraid,” Azar laughed. “And it’s more fun.”  
“Why come so far north?” Atlas asked. “You’ve practically made it to Sapphus.”  
“A little tip for any Guardians thinking about going bandit,” Azar explained, “never stay at home. Back in Ruban they know how I fight, they know exactly how to counteract my magic, but I go to another region? They’re terrified. A man who breathes fire? Half the Guardians don’t believe it, and the other half run scared. You’d think that they would expect to see other magic sometime, but you’d be surprised. People are always scared of the unknown.”  
He wasn’t wrong, Atlas knew. The reactions of townspeople and Guardians both had been varied, from astounded to terrified, whenever they used their magic. “I suppose you’re above that, though,” Atlas smirked. “You’ve seen it all, right?”  
“Emerala, Topal, Sapphus,” Azar bragged, “I’ve been to every region, and killed Guardians bigger and stronger than all of you kids in every one.”  
Atlas looked to Flynn. He was furious. His teeth were clenched and his knuckles were white around his sword. He knew that the thought that this man had held the same title as Damun infuriated him. However, it was dangerous to attack without a plan. He saw what they could do and wasn’t scared. Was he that strong, or was he just that good at bluffing?  
Azar cracked his neck and grabbed the hilt of his massive sword. “Enough chatter, it’s about time I get rid of you kids already. I’d say I feel bad about killing children, but I really don’t.”  
The time for hesitation was over. Atlas hoped they could catch him off guard and take him out quickly. “Fang!” He ordered.  
Fang rushed at Azar. He had been waiting. He knew his turn would come. He was excited to fight someone so strong. Azar hadn’t even finished drawing his sword when Fang’s kick connected with his abdomen. Most men he kicked like that fell to pieces with a snapped spine. He didn’t budge. It was like kicking a rock, but he could break rocks with magic, this was worse. Then Fang was flying through the air. The wind was knocked out of him and there was in intense pain in his torso. Azar had punched him in the gut- hard. Was this what it felt like when he kicked someone? It didn’t feel good. Fang landed on his feet, but stumbled. Rita helped him up as he coughed. Flynn rushed at Azar.  
Azar slashed with his sword, Flynn dodged and sliced. Parrying was not an option- Azar was too strong and his sword too big, Flynn would be crushed. His blade made contact, tearing through Azar’s arm. The huge man simply grinned at him. His skin started to glow and knitted itself together. Flynn was amazed. Was magic capable of that? He’d never seen anything like it. Azar took Flynn’s surprise as an opening and kicked him hard in the head. Flynn was sent to the ground, his head ringing in pain. Azar raised his sword to strike, but a spear of ice caught him in the shoulder. He pulled back and fire erupted from the wound, evaporating the ice and healing it.   
Rita frowned. She had stopped Flynn’s getting killed, but hadn’t done any lasting damage. She needed to aim for kill shots. She started to fire ice at him in barrages, but now he was ready. Fire shot from him effortlessly, melting the ice before it could reach him. Her canteen wasn’t the only place she could pull water from- the very air held water in it, if you were skilled enough to find it. She pulled water from the air behind him and several icy spears embedded themselves into his back. He groaned and looked at her with fire in his eyes as he erupted in flame once again. She’d riled him. That was good, she’d caught him off guard. Fang and Flynn ran at him again, their confidence restored. He batted Flynn’s sword away with his own, and as Flynn readied his flames, he grabbed his face and threw him into the side of a building. He braced for Fang’s attack, but just before it landed Atlas struck him with a bolt of lighting, maybe enough to kill a smaller man, but only enough to stagger Azar. Fang’s kick took this time, and Azar stumbled back. They were making progress. He was mad, if not hurt. Rita pulled water from the air around him again, this time all of it. He was surrounded by jaws of ice closing in on him.  
“Not again!” He growled. Fire erupted all around him, melting the ice and scorching the air. “Can’t do that anymore when I’ve seared the water out of the air, can you?” He grinned through the flames.  
Rita smiled. “No, but there are other sources of water you know.” He looked at her like she was crazy, then his sweat started to freeze.  
The intense fire around him had caused equally intense perspiration. He couldn’t escape his own sweat, he would have to light himself on fire, and that wouldn’t end well. He stumbled back as needles of ice bored into his skin. Small as they were they were everywhere, he couldn’t stop them, the pain was unbearable. Then he took a heavy blow to his back, then his chest, then into both of his sides, breaking his ribs. Pillars of earth were pinning him in place. He struggled, but he couldn’t move. Then he saw the brat running at him. That little red-haired brat with Damun’s shining silver sword. He brought his own sword down on him, but stopped short.  
BANG!  
There was a terrible pain in his hand, and blood ran down his arm as his sword fell to the ground. He’d been shot. Flynn’s sword was poised to strike him. He reached out and grabbed his sword-arm. It didn’t even phase him. He reached back with his free hand and pulled out a dagger. Azar tried to burn him, releasing as much fire as he could- but it didn’t touch the child. Flynn’s ruby glowed as brightly as his fiery eyes. Those eyes were the last thing Azar saw, striking fear in him for the first time in years as the dagger tore into his throat.

Azar. His name was Azar. Flynn recognized the name. He’d seen him before, a few times, leaving the city for Guardian duty. To think a Guardian of Ruban was capable of such horrible monstrosities. He held his silver ruby bracelet in his hand and stared at it. It hadn’t consumed him. He remembered what Fang had said, about the Emerald choosing who it wanted to be a part of it. Azar had not been chosen. They had gotten their money, but had yet to leave. They were assisting the town with a funeral pyre. They had made a lot of dead bodies after all, they couldn’t just leave them. Flynn stared into the flames, watching them twist and twirl and consume the bodies. Fire was beautiful, but it was dangerous. He would do well to remember that. It was powerful. It wasn’t a toy to be played with. He touched the ruby with his finger. It was cold, not warm like his. It had lost its master. Fang had returned the Emerald to the earth, so he supposed a ruby must return to the flame. He threw the bracelet into the fire. The metal heated and changed color and started to melt, but the ruby began to glow and crack. After only a few minutes it burst and turned to dust. The dust mingled with the fire, and then it was gone. The souls of the Guardians that had been in it, he wondered, where had they gone?

Demi pushed up his glasses and rubbed his eyes. It had been a rough week since Atlas and the others had gone, and the princess disappeared. Vlad had been livid, but the Queen had calmed him down, at least a bit. He looked at his pocket watch and sighed. He still had so much work to do, but he was expected at court. With the princess gone they at least let him sit in a chair now, even if it was just to fill the seats and keep up appearances. As he walked to the throne room Demi noticed his jaw was tight. He forgot how little he talked when Atlas and Rita weren’t around. All he seemed to do was work. He saw Asha on his way and smiled at her. The kids would be going home soon, then he really wouldn’t have anyone to talk to. “Hey, Asha, how’s it going?” he asked.  
“Fine,” She smiled back, “how are you?”  
“Been better,” Demi shrugged, “have to go to another boring meeting. I don’t know why they even make me go to these things, it’s not like I participate.”  
“Sorry,” Asha frowned, “I’m pretty busy, too, I’ll see you around.”

Demi was late to the audience chamber. He often was. It was hard to sneak in without anyone noticing, seeing as how he was seated at the front of the room next to the King, but it wasn’t like he could just not go. He pushed open the door and looked into the room. Two men stood at audience in front of about fifteen more. They were all armed. That was odd. One of the men was tall, with short black hair, a thick beard and cold grey eyes. That was odder. He’d never seen a person with black hair or grey eyes. The man next to him wore a cloak and a white, featureless mask. This was no normal meeting.  
“For the last time, Rasputin,” The Queen ordered, “I ask politely that you leave, or my Guardians will be forced to make you leave. All you have done is insult me, you have yet to air your grievances or even ask for anything.”  
The man with the beard, apparently known as Rasputin, grinned at her with a yellow smile. “Your majesty, I have but one simple request of you. Your death is all I ask.”  
Vlad had been waiting for that, it seemed. His sword was drawn in an instant, and it tore through Rasputin’s shoulder and into his chest before he could even move. Vlad pulled his sword out, but there was no blood. Rather than red it was black pouring from the wound. Like the darkness itself was seeping out. His arm pulled itself back onto the rest of his body with shadowy tendrils, and everyone stood, dumbfounded as Rasputin wrapped his fingers around Vlad’s neck. Then the red came. A fountain of blood erupted across Rasputin’s arm and face as Vlad’s neck was crushed in his hand. The Queen rose and the other Guardians charged. The men behind them rose to fight the Guardians as Rasputin looked to the queen. Demi could only watch in horror. His legs wouldn’t move.   
Rasputin approached the Queen, but she was not one to be trifled with. She raised her arm and water erupted from the urns around the room. A tendril grabbed Rasputin and flung him into the wall. He got up like nothing had happened. The King drew his sword and attacked the man in the mask, who had been approaching the Queen as well, unnoticed. Without breaking stride the masked man called a shadow from the ground and it speared the King through the chest. The Queen screamed in rage and a thousand spears of water descended on the masked man. His shadows leapt forth and combated the water, but Rasputin was approaching the Queen. Demi burst into the room and opened his canteen. He shot a lance of ice at the masked man. It stabbed him clean though, his shadows left, the Queen’s water impaled him repeatedly, and he fell to the ground. She turned to Rasputin and sent a heavy wave into him, and shackled him to the ground. She ran to Demi.  
“Run!” She ordered, “get out of here before you’re hurt!”  
She was almost to him when a shadow erupted out of her chest. The man in the mask rose from behind her, drew his sword, and Demi heard her head hit the ground as he ran out of the room. 

He had to escape. Had to get out. Everyone was dead. His father, the Queen, even the King. The poor King, who only ever had a smile for anyone he saw. The King, who had bandaged him up when he and Rita had fallen out a window trying to sneak out of the castle so his father wouldn’t find out. He was crying, he realized as he ran. Not about his dad, oddly enough, but about the King, or the Queen, who had died trying to save him. He was just glad Rita had gotten away. He should have gone with them, he realized. He wished he had gone with them. He wiped the tears from his eyes and kept running. He needed to make it to his workshop. There was a secret passageway to the sewers in there, he would be able to escape. Besides, he needed to grab something.   
He made it to his workshop and locked the door. He ran to his table and grabbed the necklace he had made to match Atlas’s. Then there was a slam at his door. He looked back, the wood was splintering. He’d been followed. He wanted to run, but his legs had stopped working again. Why did fear do this to him? Why couldn’t he move!? He should have gone with them! Another bang on the door. Then a thud. Something had fallen off the table onto the floor. It rolled into his foot and he looked down. A present Atlas had left for him. A third bang on the door, the wood was tearing apart, he would be in any moment. He could move again. He reached down and grabbed the metal ball. A final bang and a crash, the door exploded open and the masked man stared at him. Demi threw the ball. He had one shot, and even then he wasn’t sure it would work. Shadows leapt forward and engulfed his outstretched arm, he could feel them consuming him, it was a pain he couldn’t even imagine, like being eaten by a thousand burning fish. The ball slammed into the torch on the wall and knocked it to the ground. The masked man stepped over it as the broken door and the bookcases caught fire. He should have gone with them. Demi was on his knees in pain as the shadows slowly crept up his arm. He was toying with him.  
I should have gone with them.  
The masked man stood over him. He couldn’t see his face but he knew he was enjoying this. Flames roared behind him as they engulfed the workshop. The shadows had moved past his elbow, he couldn’t feel anything below that anymore. He was going to be completely consumed by the shadows. He was crying, and he couldn’t stop.  
I should have gone with them.  
He clutched his necklace tightly in his remaining hand, and prayed that Atlas would save him.


	12. The Raging Plains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flynn and the others finally reach the southern fields in their search for the city in the sky.

Chapter 12: The Raging Plains

“Khat- Cat… Cat… Uhr… Catuhrpil- piluh-luh… ar. Caturpiluhluhar,” Flynn struggled to sound out the words in the book in front of him. Reading was harder than he had thought. His swordplay and control of magic had improved by leaps and bounds since he and Atlas had set out on their adventure, but he still felt like a fool any time he tried to read. Atlas always found time at least once a week to work on teaching he and Fang how to read, and with Rita here they could divide the duty, but neither of them were making much progress.   
“Close,” Atlas smiled. He was always close, and Atlas always gave him that smile. “But see those two letters? When they’re next to each other like that it just elongates the sound, it doesn’t make it twice. So it’s just ‘caterpillar’ got it?”  
“Yeah, I got it, caterpillar,” Flynn sighed. He hated reading. It always made him feel so stupid. Atlas was a good teacher, and was always nice about it, but he could tell he was terrible.   
“We’re calling it a day for now,” Rita said, approaching with Fang, “how are you boys doing?”  
“Fine,” Atlas sighed.   
“Reading is hard,” Flynn groaned.  
“I guess so,” Rita frowned. “Atlas and I have been doing it since we were little, so we’ve never thought about it, but it must be tough to learn when you’re older.”  
“Don’t speak for me!” Atlas snapped. She wasn’t wrong, Flynn knew, Atlas was just being difficult.  
“How did you learn to read?” Flynn asked, trying to stop Atlas from yelling at Rita.  
Atlas shrugged. “I honestly can’t remember a time I couldn’t. My nannies always read me books when I was going to sleep, and I always insisted on seeing the pages, and that they follow along with their finger, so as I grew up I just sort of picked it up naturally.”  
Rita laughed. “I used to do the same thing. As soon as I realized I could read on my own I never stopped. There wasn’t much for a kid to do in the castle before Demi showed up, so I spent almost all my time reading. I read every book in the castle. I started with fun stories about Guardians fighting monsters, but eventually I ended up reading scientific journals and encyclopedias, anything I could get my hands on. Once I ran out of books I had Guardians find new ones we didn’t have in the castle. And once they couldn’t find any more I read them all again.”  
Atlas hated to admit it, but they weren’t too different. Whenever he had free time he was reading, though that didn’t come often with the way his mother worked him to the bone, constantly in the workshop inventing. “Is Fang doing any better with you?” he asked.  
“Well,” Rita frowned, “she doesn’t seem too interested most of the time, but she does okay when she actually tries. Of course when she hits a word she has trouble with she tends to bite.”  
“He bit you?” Flynn asked, concerned.  
“No, the book,” Rita laughed uncomfortably.  
“You’re not letting him eat my books are you!?” Atlas exclaimed.  
“I usually get her to stop before she bites off… much of the page.”  
“Fang, no eating books!” Atlas snapped.  
“The words hurt my head so I hurt them,” Fang replied.  
“So Rita, you know a lot of stuff, right?” Flynn asked, trying to change the subject before Atlas lost it.  
Rita shrugged, “I’ve read a lot, so in theory, yeah, not so much in practice.”  
It had been weeks since their battle with Azar, and there was something bothering Flynn. He had a feeling it was on all of their minds, but they had avoided talking about it until now. “How was Azar able to heal himself?” Fire could do a lot of things, but healing wounds wasn’t one of them. It could stop bleeding, sure, but it left a horrible burn scar, Azar had literally healed his injuries.  
Rita frowned. “I don’t know much about fire magic, but I do know that water magic has healing properties as well. You can use the power of the Sapphire to manipulate blood as well as water. Many of our doctors use it to help stop bleeding and remove unwanted toxins from the body. It’s possible that there are similar properties in fire magic.”  
Flynn looked at his ruby. “I could heal people?”  
“It’s possible,” Rita said, “but I would be careful, if used incorrectly healing magic can be dangerous. Using blood magic for anything other than healing is strictly forbidden in Sapphus.”  
“I can see why,” Atlas nodded, “someone capable of killing someone else with their own blood is a terrifying thought.” He gave Rita a dirty look.  
“Don’t look at me like that,” she glared back, “yes, I have studied blood magic, but even if I were to try and use it to hurt someone I need to be touching them for it to work.”  
Atlas scooted himself away from Rita.  
“So it’s possible that all magic has healing abilities,” Flynn suggested.  
“Certainly,” Rita smiled. “As much as I’d love to test that, I think it’s best we leave that to the doctors though. None of us are really trained to be trying to heal wounds with magic. We could hurt ourselves or someone else.”  
Flynn nodded sadly, he knew she was right. Still, the idea was intriguing.

It wasn’t long before they had made their way fully into the southern fields. It was warm and sunny now and they had shed their winter clothes, and Fang had returned to his habits of not wearing shoes. Rita seemed excited. She had never seen fields before, it seemed. There were no trees as far as the eye could see, only brilliant green grass rippling in the mighty winds that found their home in these fields. This was no-man’s land, people didn’t settle this far. Guardians, on occasion, ventured into these plains to explore, but it was rare to see a human out here. The beasts were massive, giant, feathered creatures of all shapes and sizes. Dinosaurs, the guardians had called them. Some were bigger than anything Atlas had ever seen, covered in blue feathers loping along across the grass with long necks and massive bodies. Others were smaller with horns and colorful, feathery frills. Those were the gentle ones, the hunters were what they had to watch out for. Small raptors that hunted in packs or massive Tyrannos that could eat them whole. Atlas looked up and saw the countless birds flying high above, from ones as small as a finger to as large as one of the Tri-horned dinos. He wanted to make fun of Rita for gawking, but it truly was amazing to see, the view was breathtaking.  
“This is amazing!” Rita exclaimed, jumping off her tiger and shedding her boots to feel the grass between her toes. She grabbed Fang by the arm and pulled her down into the grass with her. “Come on, Fang!” Fang blushed, but smiled as she and Rita ran and rolled around in the field. Atlas sighed, and had to remind himself that they were all still just kids. At least they weren’t in any hurry, he could use this time to work on his maps. Ash and Shiva followed suit, tackling each other and rolling around, they had been getting along just as well as their masters were since Rita and Shiva joined the party.  
Flynn dismounted Storm and stretched, smelling the fresh air. He looked up at Atlas, still on Shadow, and smiled. “Atlas, come on, don’t be such a fuddy-duddy, have some fun.”  
“I’m not going to roll around in the grass,” Atlas groaned, “my clothes will get dirty, and you know how much of a pain it is to clean them off.”  
Flynn raised an eyebrow and smirked, “You don’t always have to try so hard to be an ass, you know.” Atlas looked away and blushed. Flynn grabbed his pant leg and pulled him off Shadow.  
“Flynn!” Atlas growled, glaring at him.  
Flynn grinned, “Having fun won’t kill you, you know.”  
Atlas couldn’t help but smile. He was right, he was being silly. He knew he was, but Rita joining them and leaving Demi had just left such a bad taste in his mouth. Now that both horses were without riders they galloped off excitedly- they hadn’t had this much open space to run free in a long time. Atlas laid himself down on the grass and looked up at the sky. It was beautiful to look at, blue as he had ever seen it with big white, puffy clouds floating by. It was peaceful, tranquil, and he could feel Flynn lying next to him, looking up at the same sky, and that calmed him down. It reminded him of when they had started out, looking up at the night sky together and wondering just how big the world was, and if the sky really covered all of it. It had been at least a year since then, and it seemed like longer. They had both grown so much, seen so much, done so much. Flynn was older, stronger, more self-assured and assertive, but what was Atlas? More bitter? Surely, but in the end he was still just that same angry kid who had stolen everything he could carry and ran away from home.  
Atlas must have dozed off at some point, because he awoke to the distressed whinnies of Shadow galloping towards him. He jumped up without hesitation and drew his pistol. He fired and landed a clean shot into the forehead of a raptor about to take a chunk out of Shadow’s side. He looked around to get his bearings. Flynn, Rita and Fang were running to him with Ash and Shiva in tow, seemed Flynn had left him to sleep. Storm and Shadow had stopped near him, looking for protection from the raptors that were chasing them. Seemed to be the story of this whole adventure- just when things looked good there was always tragedy just around the corner. The raptors encircled them just as the others got to him. The horses, and even the wolf and tiger seemed terrified. The raptors were constantly moving, like a living wall of teeth and claws just waiting for an opening. Flynn drew his sword and Rita uncorked her canteen, but no one attacked.  
Atlas saw a raptor move from the corner of his eye and he fried it with a bolt of lightning- and then the battle started. Every raptor rushed them all at once, Flynn started to slice them up, and Rita played defense, stopping them from getting to the horses. Fang, Ash and Shiva, meanwhile, gave them a taste of their own medicine, showing their own claws and teeth could do just as much damage. Ash was getting overwhelmed, but Fang jumped in and kicked the raptors off. No matter how many they killed, though, it seemed like more just kept coming. They weren’t hurt yet but they were getting tired, and that was bad.   
Just when it seemed like they might get overrun the raptors scattered. Atlas thought for a moment they were safe, then he saw the Tyrrano. It was a massive, hulking beast with a huge head and sharp teeth, great, stomping legs and tiny, useless arms. It was charging them, its brightly colored feathers blowing in the wind. It roared and Atlas clenched his jaw. Could they take this thing? It was bigger than anything they had fought before, besides the golem, but Fang had magic to take care of that.  
Everyone instinctively recoiled, save Fang, who put himself between the charging dino and his friends. The horses were poised to run, but Fang made a clicking sound and the animals calmed. As the Tyrrano approached it reached down with its massive maw and tried to bit Fang. Fang grabbed either jaw with each of his hands and spun, using the beast’s momentum to slam it into the ground. It quickly recovered and roared. Fang roared back. Somehow the sound was even more terrifying coming out of the little girl. The Tyrrano bit down again, this time Fang jumped to the side and landed a powerful kick into the top of the dino’s head, knocking its jaw into the ground. It recoiled and growled, trying to stomp on its foe, but Fang grounded himself and caught the giant foot. The ground beneath its other foot rumbled and the huge dino fell to the ground, face-first. Fang held onto the leg and leapt onto its back, pulling its limb in a direction it was clearly not meant to go. The Tyrrano howled out in pain as Fang pulled harder. It flailed violently, but it couldn’t move. Finally, after a minute or so it gave up and fell limply to the ground. Fang let its leg go and walked down its back until he was standing on its snout. He knelt down and looked it in the eye, and let out another roar, more commanding than the last. The Tyrrano looked down in defeat and Fang dismounted its head. The beast rose and loped off.  
The dinosaurs never bothered them again after that.

Flynn took a deep breath in through his nose and laughed. “I can’t get over just how great the air here smells.”  
They’d been in the plains for about a month now, it seemed silly to Atlas that he would bring it up now, but he wasn’t wrong. “Or it might just be that Rita has made sure Fang is actually bathing now,” he smirked.  
“Atlas, rude!” Rita snapped.  
Fang shrugged, “He’s not wrong.”  
Atlas knew Fang well enough to know that wouldn’t offend him. That was something that annoyed him about Rita, she was always so careful about Fang’s feelings, but Fang was strong. Sure, he got flustered talking to people, but his feelings weren’t fragile, he knew he stank, he just didn’t care. He’d only bathed before when the smell was too bad for Atlas and Flynn to take and they asked him to. It never bothered him, and it didn’t seem to bother him now that he was bathing regularly and Rita was keeping his hair neat either. Atlas assumed it was something he just never thought about, not something he hated doing. Fang was starting to look more like a girl recently, and Atlas wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Nothing had really changed, but being clean and groomed made him (her? He never knew) seem more feminine, and he (she?) was getting older, and with that came developments. Sure, she (it’s appropriate here, he thought) wasn’t built like Rita, but the girl-parts of Fang were at least noticeable now, from certain angles. They’d all grown, Atlas thought to himself, Flynn even had to shave every once in awhile. Atlas still couldn’t grow a single hair on his face though.   
It had been a month in the fields, they should be getting close by now. He’d been searching the sky every day with his telescope, but had yet to see anything. He was completely lost in thought when Shadow reared up, startling him back into the real world. He looked down and saw a massive crater in front of them. They had all stopped and were looking on in amazement. The crater spanned for miles in any direction they looked, and it was deep, but not fresh. Grass had grown in the crater, making it seem almost like an odd depression in the field. He looked around with his spyglass and saw that there were a few other, smaller craters around it.  
“What is this?” Flynn asked.  
Atlas looked to the sky now. “If I’m right- and I usually am- this crater was created when the flying city took off. Meaning it should be above us somewhere.”  
“If it’s been flying for, well, who knows how long, who’s to say it hasn’t moved by now?” Rita asked.  
“I can’t say for sure,” Atlas replied, “but it’s the stone of wind, so it’s possible it could keep it in one place, and I think it would want to, because all of the stones seem to be equidistant from each other.”  
There was a moment of silence as Atlas looked around through the sky. Then he smiled. He saw it. It was just a speck, but there was no movement or beating of wings, it was no bird. That had to be it, the city in the sky. “I think I see it,” he said. “it’s far, but I think I-” then he saw something else, a massive bird flying at him.  
He tried to move Shadow out of the way, but the bird was diving too fast. It was huge, bigger than the Tyrrano, and it looked mad. Fang jumped off Ash without missing a beat and kicked the bird in the side of its huge head, sending it spiraling into the ground. Before it could recover fang landed on its back and grabbed both of its wings and pulled them back. Atlas couldn’t help but let out a laugh, he had been expecting more of a fight than that. Birds weren’t much of a threat on the ground, it seemed.   
“So you see it,” Rita said, as if nothing had happened, “but how to we get to it? It’s too far for us to build something to just climb up.”  
“Ride birds,” Fang suggested.  
Atlas shook his head. “Even if the birds can make it in one trip, we would have no way to rest, and we’d die before we got there.”  
“We’d die?” Flynn frowned.  
“Judging from how high it is, yeah,” Atlas sighed. “Topal did some studies when they first discovered hot air in a big enough balloon could lift people. The higher you go the harder it gets to breathe, and eventually it starts to have adverse effects on your body. Even if I were to build us a hot air balloon, so we could sleep and eat in peace, we’d have the same problem. We need to find a way to get there in an enclosed space, as to keep the air down here with us until we get up there.”  
“If people can’t survive that high up, then how do they do it?” Flynn asked.  
“Well,” Atlas thought, “Either the stone regulates the air for them, or they as a people are simply able to live in those conditions. Or… It’s possible there are no people, just the stone.”  
There was a somber silence for a moment. Was there even a point to all this if there weren’t people?  
“Well, only one way to find out, right?” Flynn smiled. “How to we get up there?”  
Atlas clenched his teeth. He had an idea, but he didn’t like it. “I have an idea, but… Scrap, I wish I hadn’t thought of it.”  
“What?” Rita frowned.  
Atlas let out a heavy sigh. “We need to go to Topal.”


	13. The Clockwork Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team heads to Topal

Chapter 13: The Clockwork Town

The fields of the Topal region were vast and overcast, dark clouds always rolling overhead. The animals they saw reminded Flynn of Ruban, horses, antelope, even elephants, but then there were the lions. They were the kings of the fields, and you couldn’t travel far without running into a pride. The lions knew better than to approach them, though, they had only had one or two scuffles in the time they had been traveling through. The most unsettling part of this new region was the weather, though. It was rare that the sun ever poked through the storm clouds, and there was a persistent electricity in the air. Rain was rare, and often little more than a drizzle when it came, but the lightning was constant. It was difficult to sleep at first, with the incessant flash and boom of lighting and thunder, but they had mostly gotten used to it. Atlas assured them he could keep them from getting hit by the lightning, and more than once he had kept that promise, deflecting a bolt headed straight for them. He hadn’t been sleeping much either, he took almost every watch, claiming it was to watch for storms. Any sleeping he did was a short nap in the saddle. He and Fang had both been on edge since they had entered the fields. Flynn knew that animals could sense impending storms- the dogs back in Ruban had always gone crazy barking the night before a big one- and he supposed Fang felt the same thing, though in this case the feeling never left. As for Atlas, it was no surprise he was tense, Flynn knew he hated his home, and here they were heading back to it.  
Atlas hadn’t talked much since they departed for Topal, all Flynn knew was that they were out to steal a machine that Atlas couldn’t build himself. Flynn didn’t like the idea of stealing, but seeing as how Atlas was a wanted criminal in Topal it was unlikely that they would be buying anything legally. Atlas had told them that this machine would get them to the flying city.

It had been well over a month traveling through the region before they finally came across a town. Atlas had said there were few civilizations out here, it was too dangerous between the wild lions and the lightning, and the few towns there were often had a Guardian stationed there to keep them safe. The town was relatively small, a cluster of modest buildings with a tall clock tower in the center. There were long, twisting tubes leading from each house to the top of the tower, just under the clock. Each building also had a long metal pole sticking out of the top, a lighting rod, Atlas called it, to misdirect the lightning.   
They entered town and stored their mounts in a stable with one of those poles on it, and Atlas led them to the inn. It had been a long time since they had slept in beds. Flynn couldn’t help but notice that no one was outside, he supposed when there was a constant danger of being struck by lightning you stayed inside. Once they entered the inn Flynn immediately noticed something was off. It was too bright. The light was too steady, there was no flicker. He looked up and saw a glowing orb on the ceiling. “What in the world is that!?” Flynn asked suddenly, startled. Fang bared his teeth and growled at the mysterious sphere of light.  
“Calm down guys,” Atlas couldn’t help but chuckle, “it’s just a light bulb.”  
“A what?” Flynn frowned. “Is it magic?”  
Atlas shook his head, “Electricity. Science.”  
“Amazing,” Flynn muttered.  
“Guys,” Rita whispered, “I think we have more pressing matters to attend to.”  
Flynn looked around and realized what she meant. He had been too preoccupied with the light to realize, but there was something even more off here. The people were… wrong. They didn’t have skin, only metal. They were humanoid machines made of cogs and metal plating. Each ‘patron’ moved as if eating or talking, but the motions were sudden and stuttering. The metal barkeeper waved at them.  
“Greetings, travelers!” It called in a metallic voice. They approached and looked at him. Fang hopped onto the bar and sniffed him. No reaction. “How can I serve you today?” It asked. Now Flynn realized the voice was really coming from a strange box above him.  
“What is all of this?” Rita asked.  
“These are mechanized puppets,” Atlas said, looking over the barkeeper, “and that is a speaker, a device used to transmit sound from one place to another.”  
“Is every town in Topal like this?” Flynn asked.  
Atlas shook his head. “No, this is very, very odd. A mechanical puppet needs a puppet master, and a speaker needs someone speaking into it. As far as we can see these are the only ‘people’ in this inn, but that isn’t possible. Someone is controlling all of these, likely multiple someones. It would take a very powerful mage to control all of these puppets at once like this.”  
“It’s like your electric circus, right?” Flynn asked.  
“Same principle, yes,” Atlas replied.  
“So maybe this is for some sort of performance?” Flynn suggested.  
“It’s possible,” Atlas nodded, “but they were moving when we walked in, despite having no audience. Let’s have a look around, the puppet master should be close by, somewhere he can see what’s going on.”  
The search yielded little result. Upstairs were some rooms with beds, and a few were inhabited by more puppets, but they couldn’t find a real person. Fang sniffed around, but claimed that she couldn’t smell anyone. She did find a scent though, and followed it down an almost hidden corridor, partially blocked by the drink shelf behind the bar. At the end was a large, metal door, sealed completely.  
“Well that’s not suspicious at all,” Rita said.  
Atlas pulled on the door, but it didn’t budge. “Locked, figures,” he sighed.  
“I’ve got this,” Rita said, calling the water from her canteen. She slid it into the lock and solidified it, then turned the ice key and there was a click.  
“Nice work princess,” Atlas grinned.  
Flynn felt cold metal on his neck and whirled around. Everyone looked to see the barkeep puppet staring back at them. He was carrying the speaker in his arms. “Travelers, what are you doing back here? You ought to head back up to the front so I can serve you!”  
“He can see us somehow, but there’s no hole in this door,” Atlas observed. He looked around, then saw something. He looked closely at the corner of the ceiling. There was a glint. “A mirror,” He said. “Whoever this is is using mirrors to see into the bar. Very clever.”  
“How?” Flynn asked.  
“Looking into a mirror at an angle can let you see things not in front of you. Doing this with multiple mirrors can let you see things nowhere near you. Of course, to do that you need a very long and twisted tube of mirrors.”  
“The tubes outside leading to the clock tower,” Rita suggested.  
Atlas nodded. “Looks like that’s where our puppet masters are. But first, they don’t want us getting past this door. Let’s find out why.”  
Atlas reached for the door handle, but the puppet grabbed his arm. “Traveler, why don’t you head back to the front. There’s nothing to see behind that door.”  
Atlas kicked the puppet in the body and it stumbled back and fell down onto its back. “Now you’re just making me more curious.” He pulled open the door and a horrific stench wafted out. It was a choking, oppressive smell, and Flynn felt close to vomiting.   
Fang hissed and rushed through the door. There was a short stairwell, but inside it was completely dark. Flynn conjured a flame and looked into the room. Corpses. More corpses than he could count. Men, women, children. They were decayed, it was hard to tell they had even been people once, little more than skeletons with flesh clinging to pieces of them. Fang was sniffing around and looked back at the others. “They don’t smell right. Not like death, like sickness.”  
“What the actual fuck?” Atlas exclaimed.  
“Is this what happened to the bar patrons?” Flynn asked.  
“Too many,” Rita shook her head, “the whole town, maybe. This is… awful. Who would do this.”  
“They weren’t killed,” Fang frowned. “Sick.”  
“So there was a plague,” Atlas frowned, “and this is their mass grave? Someone had to put them there. I don’t think a bunch of sick people just horded themselves in a dark basement to die. I think we need to pay our puppet masters a visit.”  
“You shouldn’t have gone in there, travelers,” the speaker said. It was lying on the ground next to the puppet, still struggling to stand.  
Atlas stepped on the speaker, crushing most of it. They left the corridor to find the other puppets standing now, staring at them. “He really wants to keep us away,” Atlas chuckled. The puppets lumbered towards them, their corroded and rusted bodies struggling to move, arms outstretched as if to grab them. Atlas drew his pistol and shot the head off of one. “Guess we’re fighting these guys.”  
“They move using electricity, right?” Rita asked, “can’t you just use your own magic to stop them?”  
Atlas shook his head, “Mechanical puppets are insulated so only one person can control them, they were originally designed for law enforcement, so it was important that the criminals couldn’t override them.”  
“Bummer,” Rita sighed, sending out a torrent of water at one of them. It sparked and sputtered, seized and fell to the ground. “That still works at least.”  
“Yeah, we never had to worry about water mages in Topal,” Atlas replied.  
Flynn’s steel sword sliced easily through the old bronze, and a single kick from Fang reduced the machines to scrap, it was simple enough for them to fight their way out of the inn. Once out in the street they saw the fight was far from over. The puppets were shambling out of every house and coming right for them.  
“Looks like the whole town has been replaced with these things,” Rita sighed.  
“Just a little farther to the clock tower,” Atlas growled.

By the time they got to the clock tower they were all panting and exhausted. They ran inside and closed the door behind them, and Fang barricaded it closed with earth. The puppets were weak enough that their limbs would shatter before they could get through.   
“Finally here,” Atlas panted. They were in a large room, dusty and rusted, scarcely furnished. There was a stone staircase at the other side of the room. “I guess we go up.”  
Atop the stairs was another empty room, though this one had six metal cages with lumps of bronze inside. Upon closer inspection Flynn realized they were more puppets. Flynn was kneeling next to a cage inspecting the puppet when the doors of the cages opened and they attacked. He jumped back and drew his sword to defend himself. It was a metal wolf attacking him. It lunged at him, but he sidestepped it and brought down his sword. These were made of stronger metal than the others, but the steel still bit into the bronze hard. It wasn’t enough to cleave through, but it tore through enough of the neck that its head was hanging, and its jaws no longer seemed to function properly. Another wolf attacked him, this one missing a leg. He sliced clean through his remaining front leg and the wolf fell to the ground, lamely flailing, trying to move without use of its front legs. The rest of the wolves were taken out quickly with little effort.  
“That might have actually been a challenge if these things hadn’t been in such disrepair,” Atlas said, poking at one that had been missing its lower jaw.  
They headed forward to the next ascending staircase. The next room had a crossing pattern of bronze on the floor. Once they reached the center of the room there was a loud noise and a generator fired up. The ground around them was sparking, and only the center where they stood was safe.   
“Is this some sort of puzzle?” Rita asked.  
“Not much of one,” Atlas scoffed. He raised his left hand towards the generator and siphoned out the electricity. Now he was sparking with energy, struggling to keep it in. He loped to the window and raised his arm again. A massive lightning bold erupted from his hand, shattering the window and striking a lightning rod outside.  
Flynn rushed to his side as Atlas lost his balance and fell to his knees. “Are you alright?” Flynn asked.  
“yeah, fine,” Atlas brushed him off, “just a little lightheaded.” He walked over to the generator and looked at it. “This was no test, it was designed to fry anyone on the floor, but it’s so old it didn’t have enough juice to electrify the whole floor.”  
They headed up the next staircase, this time the room they reached really was empty. Once they were inside metal bars rose to block their entrance and exit points, and they heard a giant clunk above them. They looked up to see massive blades swinging back and forth like pendulums. They were moving down towards them ever so slowly, creaking and screaming as the cogs slowly turned, bringing them down.  
“Okay, this one has to be a test, those things are so slow,” Rita observed.  
“We’ll see,” Atlas said. “Fang, take care of these, please.”  
Fang nodded and earth sprung forth from the ground and walls, tearing through the rusted metal and pinning the blades in place. Atlas looked closely now that they weren’t in danger. “It was supposed to descend in an instant,” he said, “all of these traps are designed to kill us instantly, they’re just in such disrepair that they seem like challenges. The cogs here were so rusted and old that they couldn’t turn properly.”  
Fang tore out the metal poles blocking their way and they ascended the stairs once again. Judging from the size of the building they would reach the top soon, Atlas thought. He was right, There was no staircase this time, only a door before them. Unfortunately, blocking them was a massive metal statue. Not a statue, actually, a mechanical puppet. A bronze golem.   
“What is that thing?” Flynn asked.  
“Bronze golem,” Atlas sighed, “they’re what I was talking about before. The puppets designed for law enforcement. And this one looks like it’s actually taken care of, unlike everything else.” There was actually a shine to this thing, and when it started to move Atlas could tell it was in peak form, not jittery and rusted like all the other puppets here. It stood at least twice as tall as any of them, three times the size of Fang.   
Before it had a chance to attack Fang rushed it and landed a solid kick into it. It didn’t budge. These things were made of the toughest metal Topal could make, even Fang couldn’t break it. It brought its massive fist down towards Flynn, and he barely managed to deflect it to the side with his sword and jump to the side. Rita shot a jet of water at it, but there was no effect. This one was waterproofed, it seemed. They needed a way to get through its armor.  
“Fang, can you break the metal?” Flynn asked, “metal is earth, right?”  
Fang shook his head, “It doesn’t speak to me like earth, it only whispers.”  
Another strike, this time it was directed at Atlas, who dodged, but was hit with pieces of the floor as it shattered from the punch. Whispers? Atlas felt like he knew what Fang meant. It all made sense now, when Fang said he spoke to the earth, and asked it for aid, he was referring to the feeling one has when they have an affinity for magic. Atlas felt that when lightning was about to strike, or with the generator. And he felt the whispers too, from the metal. He always had, but had never made the connection to magic until now. He had a thought, he wasn’t sure it would work, but he could hope.  
“Fang!” He called, “Use your magic and try to tear open its chest!” Fang nodded. He liked that about Fang, he didn’t ask questions. The golem was going after Rita now- prefect. Fang and Atlas raised their arms, Atlas channeled his magic into the metal, there was little response at first, like trying to push down a brick wall, then he felt his magic mingling with Fang’s, and the whisper became a roar, the metal heaved and creaked and tore itself open, revealing the sparking, spinning core of the golem. “Rita!” He yelled. Rita smiled. She knew exactly what to do. She flooded the core, the golem smoked and spasmed and fell to the ground. It wasn’t seizing like the others, the puppet master had pulled out. Flynn jumped onto it and sliced up the core with his blade, ensuring it would not rise again.

“How did you manage that?” Flynn asked Atlas.  
“Fang said he heard a whisper from the metal,” Atlas explained, “and I realized I felt the same thing. So I had an idea, maybe metal isn’t one element or another, it’s earth and electricity. Makes sense, right? It’s earth that conducts electricity, so if you want to use magic on it you need both elements.”  
“Amazing,” Rita smiled, “how many other combinations could there be?”  
“Who knows,” Atlas shrugged. “Not something to worry about now. It’s time we finally meet our puppet master.”  
This door was locked too, and after Rita tried her lock trick it was clear it was blocked from the other side, too. Fang made quick work of that, kicking the door off its hinges and blowing away whatever had been behind it. They entered a dusty old room, overlooking the town from the clock face. The room was covered in clutter- books, beakers and other science equipment. It was a mess, and they could now see the countless mirror tubes that were used to see around the town connecting here. At first glance it seemed no one was there, but Atlas noticed a movement. Someone was hiding behind a bookshelf. He fired a small bolt of lightning nearby and the culprit ran out in shock, stumbling and falling to the ground. He was an old man with scraggly white hair and a long, unkempt beard. He was trembling, and looked terrified, but Atlas kept his guard up, he saw the topaz on the glove on his left hand.  
“Please don’t hurt me!” The old man squealed.  
“What is going on!” Atlas demanded, approaching him.  
“Nothing, nothing is going on!” The old man pleaded.  
“There are corpses in the inn’s basement, and everyone in town has been replaced with machines,” Rita said, “I find it hard to believe nothing is going on.”  
“Not to mention you tried to kill us,” Atlas hissed.  
“I… I never meant to…” The old man was staring back at them with wide eyes. “There was… A… a plague. People were sick, so sick. Everyone was. I was the doctor, you see, so I was… I was trying to fix everyone. I found a cure, but… I couldn’t make enough. I was sick too, I was going to die, so I used what I had made and fixed myself. I didn’t want to die! I locked myself up here and… waited. I couldn’t make more, so I waited. They all died. Everyone did. I felt bad, I really did! I knew I could have saved them, but I was scared! I could have made more if I hadn’t used up my sample, but I was so scared! You understand, I didn’t want to die!”  
Atlas drew his pistol and pointed at him. Out of instinct, it seemed, the man fired a bolt of lightning at him. Atlas took it to the chest. It only pissed him off. He raised his hand and fired it right back. The old man convulsed, the topaz on his glove shattered, but was still conscious. Atlas pressed his pistol to his head now. “Where did you get that glove? Why did you put all these puppets around town? How long ago was this plague? Talk fast.”  
“I took it off the town guardian when he died!” The old man shrieked, “I made the puppets to… I felt bad! I was lonely, I was scared, I wanted company! I made the town again! I brought them back to life! They were my friends! From here I could watch them all, see what they were doing. It was… nice here. Yes. The plague was… so long ago… How long… I’m not sure… I was younger then. I had a wife, a son. He was ten then, he would be thirty-five now, I think.”  
“Twenty-five years alone,” Rita said quietly. She knelt down next to the man. “What’s your name, sir?”  
“My name?” He looked at her like she was crazy. “I… can’t remember. I’m sorry.”  
“Why didn’t you try and go to Topal?” Flynn asked.  
The old man’s eyes widened even further, as though they would pop out of his skull. “No! No! Anything but that! I could never! What they do there! I will never, ever go to Topal!”  
“No, you won’t,” Atlas said solemnly. He pulled the trigger, and the old man stopped trembling.  
“Atlas!” Rita exclaimed, “you killed him!”  
“Yes, I did,” Atlas said coldly. She looked him in the eyes. They were drained of life, weary, with dark circles under them.   
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said through gritted teeth.   
“He was responsible for the deaths of everyone in this town,” Atlas replied. “He deserved to die.”  
“He’d lost his mind,” Rita insisted, “he needed help! We could have taken him to Topal-”  
“No!” Atlas snapped. “You’ve never been to Topal, there was a reason he didn’t want to go there. When someone’s gone insane… well, we are willing to do a lot in the name of science. I saved him from a much worse fate.”  
Rita shook her head. “It wasn’t right.”  
Atlas looked out the clock face into the town. “Before we go, the people of this town deserve a proper burial.”  
At least Rita could agree with that.


	14. Return to the Mechanical City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Atlas and the others finally return to his old home, Topal, and meet some of his old friends.

Chapter 14: Return to the Mechanical City

They could see the Topaz city well before they reached it, tall metal spires shooting towards the clouds. Dozens of lightning rods to protect from the perpetual storm that raged over the mountains rising behind the city. The city seemed larger than the others they had been to, extending well past the Topaz’s influence, and the walls didn’t start popping up until midway into the city. According to Atlas the first five rings of the city were informal with no walls to separate them. They were more like districts, the fifteenth ring was a residential area, the fourteenth a market, the thirteenth labor, the twelfth another residential area and the eleventh the entertainment district. Flynn had expected Atlas to be miserable upon seeing his former home, but oddly enough, part of him almost seemed excited. For the first time in a long time his eyes seemed to light up as they approached.  
“Atlas, you okay?” Flynn asked.  
Atlas smiled. “Now that I’m seeing the outer rings… Well, not every part of my time in this city was bad. There were some good parts too.”  
“Really?” Rita asked, more than a little venom in her words, “from the way you’ve been acting I’d never have guessed there was any redemption to this place.”  
“Oh, shut it, Ice Queen,” Atlas sneered.  
“Ice Princess, thank you,” Rita shot back, “the Ice Queen is my mother, Gearhead.”  
“So how do we go about getting what we came for?” Flynn asked, “we can’t just walk in right? You’re kind of a wanted criminal, aren’t you?”  
“You’d be surprised,” Atlas grinned. “It’s a big city, it’s hard to find a face in a crowd, especially when that face has been gone for something like two years, they probably think I’m dead. We will have to disguise you guys though, hair like yours is going to bring unwanted attention.”  
“And how do we do that?” Rita asked.  
“We visit some old friends of mine,” Atlas smiled.

Flynn and the others covered their hair with hoods for the time, before they met these friends of Atlas’s, though people still gave them odd looks, their clothes aside it was strange to see a Direwolf and Tiger walk through the streets. They made their way to the fourteenth ring, luckily there were few guards in the outer rings, not much to protect this far out, mostly just poor people. It reminded Flynn of the lower ring of Ruban, where he’d grown up. It wasn’t a pretty sight, but it was almost nostalgic in a way. The bricks used here were different colors than the ones back home, but the similarities were still there, until you got to the metal and electricity. The buildings and people alike were packed close together, making for crowded walkways and dark alleys.  
Once they were a ways into the market district Atlas pulled out his coin purse and dropped it. Before it hit the ground a dirty hand snatched it out of the air. Atlas grabbed the owner of the hand by his greasy, dirty blonde hair and pulled his head back. He looked Atlas in the eyes and grinned from ear to ear.  
“Cogs, bloody hell, is that you?”  
“In the flesh,” Atlas smiled back. “Not here, though, I’m sure you know a quieter place we can talk.” He nodded and led them off.

The boy who had caught the purse was tall and lanky, with shaggy dirty blonde hair and dark blue eyes. His face reminded Flynn a bit of a horse, but he carried himself with enough confidence that he almost seemed attractive despite his awkward looks. The girl they met in the alley he took them to was short and squat, with a plain face and freckles. She had short blonde hair and pale blue eyes. They both wore filthy, tattered tunics and breeches with caps on their heads, the boy’s pants didn’t seem to fit him.  
“Hell, Cogs, we thought you was dead, mate!” The boy exclaimed, patting him on the back a little too hard.  
“Oh please, you underestimate me,” Atlas laughed. “I’ve traveled the world, my friend, and brought back some very interesting people.”  
“Ah, yes, my apologies,” the boy said, taking off his hat. “They call me Fingers, on account of my nimble fingers, damn good for snatching purses,” he looked to Rita and smiled, “as well as other things, love.”  
“Gross,” Rita mumbled.  
“Oh shut it,” the girl next to him groaned, smacking him in the back of the head. “Nobody calls you Fingers but you, everybody calls this idiot Mouth, since he never shuts up.” Now that she was talking it was blatantly obvious that she was missing one of her teeth.  
“And this lovely lass is Tooth,” Mouth sighed.  
She pulled her lip up to show the gap in her teeth. “Lost this to a guard, damn proud of it, took a gauntlet right to my gob, but got his purse, sorry bastard.”  
“She was ‘Girly’ for about a week before she- ah- inherited the name from the last Tooth.”  
“Inherited?” Flynn asked.  
“When she joined up we called her Girly,” Mouth explained, “said we’d call her that ‘til she proved herself, then she did the whole bit with the guard like she said, and good old Tooth said to her that he’d keep on calling her Girly, and then we had to start calling him Toothless.”  
Atlas chuckled. “Toothless never did know when to keep his mouth shut.”  
“The poor idiot will be missed,” Mouth sighed.  
“Missed?” Atlas asked.  
“Toothless got caught awhile back, his own fault, but still, sorry thing he’s gone.”  
“That’s too bad,” Atlas frowned. He looked to his team. “Anyway, I should introduce my friends. The red-head is Flynn, a Knight from Ruban, the tiny one that could kill you twenty-three times before you realize you’re dead is Fang, escaped slave from Emerala, and the one Mouth can’t stop staring at is Rita, from Sapphus, I hear she’s kind of important where she’s from.”  
“A pleasure to meet you all,” Mouth said, bowing.  
“Likewise,” Tooth agreed, extending a hand to Fang, who simply stared back in reply.  
“So to what do we owe your return, Cogs?” Mouth asked. “Thought you said you’d never come back to this sorry shithole.”  
“Turns out I didn’t steal quite everything I needed before I left after all,” Atlas sighed.  
“Well, my friend, you have come to the right people, we’re still the best in the business, as it stands.”  
“Sorry, Mouth, my mark’s a bit out of your pay grade, what I need from you guys is disguises for my friends, hair like theirs walking through the streets might cause a bit of a stir.”  
“Fair enough, mate,” Mouth nodded, though he was clearly disappointed. “We’ll take you lot back to base and get you fixed up nice and ratty, yeah?”  
“Knew I could count on you, Mouth,” Atlas smiled.

As it turned out, their base was little more than an empty warehouse full of homeless kids. Once they were there Flynn and Atlas went with Mouth, and Rita and Fang with Tooth.  
“So, you ladies looking to be all prim and pretty or you want me to make you look like boys?” Tooth asked, looking through the potential clothes.  
“Whatever is easiest,” Rita shrugged.  
“Well,” Tooth said, looking them over, “Little thing can probably pass as a boy, easy, but you… How do you feel about a corset?”  
“What is that?” Rita asked.  
“It squishes your guts and pushes your tits halfway to your chin, all the fancy ladies wear the damn things.”  
“Sounds awful, what are my other options?” Rita frowned.  
“I figured you might say that,” Tooth laughed, “guess I’ll get the binders, then. Toughest part for you two is going to be hiding all that colorful hair, but I have been known to work magic.”  
Rita decided to trust Tooth and let her do her thing, even if it involved things she’d never seen compressing her chest and a lot of work with their hair. “So what exactly is this place?” Rita asked as Tooth worked.  
“A commune for kids that got nowhere else to go,” Tooth said, “we’re like a big, homeless family. The older kids steal so the younger ones can eat, and once the young ones get old enough they do the same for the kids younger than them.”  
“How do you guys know Atlas?” Rita asked. Tooth was working on Fang’s hair, and Fang was struggling not to break away and run, as it was she was squirming like a trapped animal.  
“Couple years back, after Cogs ran away from home Mouth and some others found him half dead in a gutter. Idiot stole so much he’d exhausted himself carrying it all and passed out. We took him in, fixed him up, and in return he helped us for awhile. Kid is too smart for his own good. His strategy helped us get more effective, caught less, less danger. He saved a lot of kids from getting caught.”  
“You mentioned before Toothless got caught, what happens when you’re caught?” Rita questioned.  
Tooth shook her head. “Nothing good. You get caught and you don’t come back. Jail? Torture? Death? Who knows? Not something I ever plan to find out.”  
“So Atlas helped you all? I assume he got a cut, right?”  
“Nope,” Tooth said, “He wasn’t interested in the money. In fact, he gave us all the money he stole from his family, said it wasn’t useful to him, he just took it so they had less. Of course, street rats start paying for food every day someone’s gonna take notice, so we’ve been sparing with it, only use it when we really need to, keep kids warm and safe and that.”  
“I find it hard to believe Atlas was so selfless,” Rita frowned, “I’ve only ever known him to be a self-serving jackass.”  
“He’s a good guy,” Tooth said. “Sure, he’s messed up like anyone else, but he’s got a good heart, and he’s more willing to help people than he lets on.”  
She was right, Rita knew that, but it was still hard to see past some of the things she had seen Atlas do. All the things he’d said. He wasn’t a bad guy, just an asshole.

“You make a surprisingly good pair of boys,” Atlas said, once they were all in disguise. Their hair had been hidden under hats and false hair, and they were wearing the dirty and rugged garb of the street rats.   
“So what’s the plan from here?” Rita asked.  
“Before that,” Atlas said, “I’d like to show you a few of the things I actually like about this city.”  
They weren’t in any hurry, Rita supposed. “Sure, why not. Let’s just be careful.”  
Atlas nodded. “Once we’re into the inner rings you’ll probably see a lot of horrible things, so while we’re here I’d like you to see that this place isn’t all bad.”  
“To the entertainment district!” Mouth exclaimed. Seemed Mouth and Tooth would be joining them. 

The entertainment district was lively and fun, full of colors and flashing lights. Mechanical puppets walked around, but unlike the ones the Clockwork Wizard had controlled (that’s what they had taken to calling the nameless old man) these ones were polished and pristine. Many of them held balloons or other favors that could be bought. The stalls and games reminded Flynn of the festival in Sapphus, but there were also mechanical puppet shows and contraptions that people would get into or ride, like a massive wheel that slowly turned, bringing carriages of some sort high in the sky and back to the ground. Was that how they would get to the city in the sky? Flynn wondered. Was there a bigger one of those farther in that could lift them that high? Seemed unlikely.  
They saw a mechanical puppet show depicting the tale of the first Topaz guardian, a slave who had gone on to defeat the great Thunder Dragon of the mountains. “Reminds me of you,” Flynn said to Fang after the show.  
“I liked the Dragon,” Fang replied.  
They walked past a stall where you used a pellet gun to knock over prizes, and Mouth insisted on playing. Atlas got a prize with the first shot, but Mouth was at it for ten minutes (on Atlas’s gold) before he finally knocked over a stuffed lion. He handed it to Rita and smiled. “For you, milady.”  
Rita laughed, “Thanks, I’ll treasure it forever.”

Once they had done everything they could find, Atlas finally took them to the giant spinning sky circle- he called it a Ferris Wheel. “Only room for four per cart, it seems,” Mouth said, “You kids go up, Tooth and I will head back and make sure those kids aren’t being too rough with your animals.”  
“Thanks Mouth,” Atlas smiled, patting him on the back.   
The feeling of being lifted was amazing, Flynn thought, though Fang didn’t seem to share the sentiment. She looked uneasy and jumpy, almost scared. She didn’t like being so far away from the ground, it seemed.  
Once they were near the top Atlas looked out the window and smiled. “This is my favorite place in the city. You can see everything from here.” Sure enough, Flynn could see it all. The plains, the slums, the inner rings, the mountains, they were at the highest point in the city that wasn’t a lightning rod. It was beautiful from up here, all lights and landscape without any hint of the awful things happening below.  
“So, Atlas,” Rita said, “what’s our plan now that we’ve enjoyed ourselves?”  
Atlas sat back and sighed. “I do have a plan… but I have a feeling you guys won’t like it.”

He was right. Flynn didn’t like the plan one bit, unfortunately he didn’t have time to voice his concerns because there was an explosion in the distance.  
“What was that?” Rita exclaimed as they all looked out the window to see smoke rising from near the first wall.  
“An explosion near the wall, but why?” Atlas wondered. The Ferris Wheel wasn’t far from the wall, they could see cloaked figured moving around, and Guards rushing to fight them. One looked towards them and they saw the mask. A white mask in the shape of an ant’s head.  
“That mask…” Flynn muttered.  
“Like the man in the mask we saw-”  
“No,” Flynn cut Atlas off, “his mask was faceless. These are all ants.”  
“But they could be from the same group,” Atlas suggested.  
“Maybe,” Flynn nodded, “but I don’t think he’s here.”  
“You guys are talking about the guy you met in that cave way back when you first met, right?” Rita asked. They both nodded. “If these guys are in league with him then maybe you can finally find out what was going on back then. At the very least we should try and stop them. They’re killing people down there.”  
Sure enough, they had used the commotion to begin killing anyone that got in their way, regardless of age, gender or occupation. Guards and civilians, women, men, elderly, children, no one was safe it seemed. Fang didn’t need any more reason to get out of the Ferris Wheel, he kicked the door off and jumped out, landing on one of the masked assailants and tearing into him. Unlike the masked man he didn’t bleed darkness, he just bled. Rita created a slide of ice to the ground and the other three joined Fang in the battle.  
They may not have been made of anything more than flesh, but they did all seem to control shadows like the masked man had, if not with as much proficiency. They seemed little more than mindless drones, but there were a lot of them. They were all headed for the hole in the wall that the explosion had created, flooding though it.  
“Get down!” Atlas ordered. He pulled a metal sphere from his bag, a small piece of cloth or rope coming out of it. A spark arced from his finger and lit the rope. He threw it and it landed among the masked ants below the hole. There was an explosion and more of the wall fell, landing on the ants and blocking the path to the other side. “Let’s hope the guards can take care of the ones that already got through, while we take these guys.”  
“What was that thing?” Flynn asked.  
“A bomb,” Atlas said, “powerful, but dangerous.”  
“You’ve had those this whole time and you just now thought to use them?” Rita asked.  
“I don’t have many,” Atlas explained, “I was saving them for a crucial situation. And I figure we’re in Topal, I can get more. Demi and I were working on some prototypes back in Sapphus that would blow up with fire, but I left those back with him.”  
The ants weren’t much trouble, against unarmed civilians and guards without magic they were a threat, but against four teenagers with powerful magical abilities they were little more than fodder, and once the force was separated the guards rallied and pushed the ants back.   
“What is going on?” Rita asked once most the infiltrators had been taken care of. The district was a mess, destroyed and aflame in many places, it would take fixing. “I’ve never seen magic like that before, like they were manipulating shadows, and none of them seemed to have stones.”  
Flynn nodded. “Just like the masked man.”  
“If any of them are still alive, maybe we can question them,” Atlas suggested.  
“Atlas Pennycog?”  
Atlas turned to see what must have been twenty guards, muskets trained on him. “To what do I owe this pleasure, gentlemen?” He asked with a grin.  
“You and your friends are under arrest,” the guard replied.  
Rita pulled the water from her canteen and it turned to steam, blocking the guards’ sight. Once it cleared they were all gone, all save for Atlas.  
“Looks like your friends gave up on you,” the guard smiled.  
“Indeed it does,” Atlas growled. “Guess when times get rough you find out who your real friends are.”  
“You don’t seem to have any, kid.”  
“I’m the only friend I need,” Atlas smirked.  
“Hands up.”  
Atlas raised his arms.  
“I surrender.”


	15. The Trial of Atlas Pennycog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Atlas finally pays for the crimes he committed in Topal before he left.

Chapter 15: The Trial of Atlas Pennycog

Atlas had never been to the prisons before. More like a dungeon, though they had stopped using the word to make it sound humane, but they hadn’t really changed anything. It was dark, moist and it smelled like death. The guards weren’t afraid to be rough with him as they shoved him in his cell and made sure he got a face full of the floor when they did it. The door slammed behind him and he sat up and examined the handcuffs. Cold, hard iron, crude but effective, he wasn’t going to be breaking out of them anytime soon. They had taken his weapons as well as his glove, he could feel a little magic from the stone, but not enough to do anything with. Even if he could have escaped, there were enough guards outside to significantly increase the number of holes in his body to an amount he was not comfortable with. He rested his head against the wall and took a deep breath of stale rat. He would be here until his trial came, luckily, knowing his family they would fight to have it as soon as possible. Wouldn’t be a Pennycog family reunion without dear old brother and mommy petitioning for the youngest son’s death.  
It couldn’t have been an hour before his brother showed up to gloat. All this time and Atlas still found him just as repulsive. Tall and handsome, he had the same hair and eyes as Atlas, but if you asked their mother the similarities ended there. He was brilliant, talented, cruel and vile. Mom hadn’t said all those things.  
“Atlas, it’s been too long, little brother,” He smiled. Atlas hated that smile, it just dripped with conceited egoism and more than a pinch of sociopath mixed in. It was the smile he gave to superiors and women he was trying to sleep with, that smile that says ‘I’m pretending I respect you so you’ll find me charming and endearing long enough for me to fuck you in the ass’. Atlas had no interest in spreading his cheeks for this elitist maniac, but he smiled right back.  
“Thought I’d take a walk, got a little lost, finally made it back, though.”  
His brother snorted. “Always so quick with your wit, a lot of good that’s done you. I always knew I’d see you in a cell one of these days.”  
“Just keeping it warm for you, Jack,” Atlas hissed, “how long before your affair with the Councilor’s daughter comes out? I can’t imagine he’d be happy about that, she was betrothed, wasn’t she?”  
“She was, you’re right,” Jack nodded, “of course, that man met with an unfortunate accident, as did her father, coincidentally. Very, very sad stuff. She was heartbroken, luckily I was there to pick up the pieces, and didn’t she give me the most heartfelt recommendation to become the councilor to replace her father.”  
“Was this before or after you showed her all the small animals you used to cut up as a kid?”  
“I feel like you’re missing something, Atlas, I am a councilor now. I am among the fifteen individuals who rule this city. I am one of the most powerful people in this city. Your fate lies entirely in my hands, little brother.”  
“I’m proud of you, I really am,” Atlas assured him, “I just can’t help but wonder how many members of the council mom had to sleep with to get you that position.”  
“Watch your tongue!” Jack spat, slamming the bars. He always was protective of mom, monsters of a feather flock together as they say. “You have a chance here, Atlas, I could save your life, you know.”  
“But you won’t,” Atlas smiled. “I’ve known you a long time. You’ll give me an ultimatum, tell me to do something ridiculous and degrading, tell me you’ll spare me if I do it, and once I do you’ll sentence me to death anyway. Because you don’t just want me dead, you want to see the look of shock on my face when I realize my dear old brother betrayed me. Unfortunately for you I realized that when I was five and you tried it on me for the thirty-sixth time and I ended up in the shit-trough somewhere between rings twelve and thirteen.”  
Jack gave him a cold glare. “Suit yourself, Atlas. I guess we’ll see you at the trial tomorrow.”  
“Dear Mom couldn’t even come see me herself?”  
“She couldn‘t bear seeing her failure of a son like this.”  
“I’m sure she’ll get over whatever you did eventually, Jack,” Atlas grinned.  
“Enjoy your last moments, Atlas.”  
Despite how cold, wet and smelly the dungeon (it’s a dungeon, stop kidding yourself, Topal,) was, Atlas slept surprisingly well. He hadn’t slept properly in ages, it seemed, but now it was easy. He was likely sentenced to die tomorrow, but for some reason he slept like a baby.

Atlas was woken up and dragged out of the cell just as roughly as he had been shoved in, and without a word. He knew where he was going, he didn’t need anyone telling him. He was taken from the dungeons and thrown into an electric carriage, which then drove to the courthouse. The courthouses were in the sixth ring, a place where the magical influence was only moderate, that way guards had enough to defend themselves with, but the criminals didn’t have enough to overwhelm them. Well, none but the exceedingly clever criminals. Atlas liked to think he was exceedingly clever.  
They wasted no time in escorting him into the courtroom, and it seemed his case drew quite the audience. The benches were filled with citizens of Topal looking to see a teenage boy sentenced to death. Now this felt like home. He was sat down in the defendant’s chair, the accused didn’t get much, save a chair to sit in and occasionally stand up from in frustration, and a desk to slam on when one got particularly angry. His cuffs were still on, seemed they were still worried he might attack with the ten guards and five guardians they had stationed there, not to mention the three people on the accuser’s stand who had stones of their own. The prosecutors were sat comfortably on a platform just slightly raised from the rest of the courtroom, just enough to look down on everyone else. The judge was a hard, elderly man with a gruesome look in his eye and a scowl that Atlas had a feeling was burned into his face. His long, grey hair was washed and brushed, powdered and perfumed, and it still looked like a stray dog in the rain, and on his left hand he wore a topaz ring that he stroked with blatant egoism. To the judge’s left sat Jack, all dolled up for the trial, with a smile so big you would think he’d just been gifted a box of dead puppies. And then there was dear old mom. To the outside world she was gorgeous, especially given her age, she didn’t look a day over thirty. She had long, straight hair the color of hay, and electric blue eyes, plump lips and a body that would seduce many a councilman, but Atlas knew her too well. He only saw that cold glare, a face that never smiled, not to him at least. She was heartless, cruel, cold, she wouldn’t even show she was happy about this like his brother did, all she showed was indifference. That pissed Atlas off. His father was absent. Typical.  
Two guards brought out a table and set it between the two parties, on it were all of Atlas’s things that had been taken from him, on display. The things he was accused of stealing. Some of it he’d bought legitimately, but they didn’t care. The holster wasn’t even from Topal, Flynn had given it to him.  
“May the trial of Atlas Pennycog now begin!” The judge announced, rapping his oversized ring on his table. He picked up a pile of papers and skimmed through them as the room quieted. “Atlas Pennycog, you stand accused of theft from the city of Topal, theft from a councilor, assault on several guards and guardians, murder, and the high treason of stealing a piece of the Topaz, and one that belonged to a councilor at that. Before we get to your plea, do you have anything to say in your defense?”  
Atlas looked at the glove on his brother’s left hand, it was nice, ornate, a true councilor’s Topaz. He wasn’t missing out on much since Atlas stole his old scientist’s glove. “I will say that at the time I stole all those things from my brother he was no councilor, your honor-less.”  
The judge gave him a dirty look. Seemed he didn’t like the title Atlas gave him. “If you had wanted to be tried for stealing from a scientist you should have stayed in Topal, Mr. Pennycog. As you have been absent, it seems fitting you be tried given your brother’s current position.” Atlas shrugged. He wouldn’t argue with him, it was stupid, but the trial was always stacked against him. “Now, Mr. Pennycog, how do you plead?”  
Atlas grinned at him. “Guilty as hell.” There was a collective gasp and whispering from the crowd. Had they really expected him to plead innocent? He really had done it all, there was nothing he could have said to convince them otherwise even if he hadn’t.  
The judge raised a heavy eyebrow. “An unexpected development, Mr. Pennycog. Do you hope to reduce your sentence by pleading guilty?”  
“Believe it or not,” Atlas smiled, “I try to tell the truth whenever I can. No point in lying about what I’ve done. And I’d do it again.”  
The judge nodded, his brother laughed. “Now that that is settled,” the judge said, shifting his papers, “on to your second set of crimes.” There was more? What else had he done? “You are charged with destruction of the first wall of Topal, as well as the mass murder of almost one-hundred people, including civilians and guards. Speak.”  
Destruction? Murder? Were they blaming him for what the masked men had done last night? That one he had nothing to do with. “Are you talking about last night?” He asked. “Because I didn’t do that one, surprisingly enough.”  
“The intruders used our own explosives to blow the wall, and appeared the same time you returned, you can understand our accusations.”  
“I’ll plead innocent on this one, if you don’t mind,” Atlas sighed, sitting back in his chair.  
The judge gave his own sigh in reply. “I suppose-”  
Jack interrupted him. “Your honor, does his plea really matter? The outcome of this trial is inconsequential, he already plead guilty for crimes that I believe are more than fitting of the death penalty.”  
The judge looked for a moment at Jack and nodded. “Very well. The charges will be dropped. Atlas Pennycog will be sentenced to death by electrocution, to be carried out immediately.”  
“Before that, your honor, I’d like to ask you something,” Atlas said.  
The judge groaned. “What is it now, Mr. Pennycog?”  
“What are the walls of this courthouse made of?”  
The judge looked at him like he was insane. “Bricks. Clay, stone. Why?”  
Atlas shrugged. “Just curious. A friend of mine is into rocks. Wanna meet her?”  
“Meet-” The judge was unable to get another word out as Fang exploded through the wall beside him, landed on him and tore out his throat with her teeth.  
Atlas jumped forward, collecting his things sprawled across the table the best he could with his cuffs still on. He clutched his glove in his hand and felt the magic coursing through him. Rita and Flynn stood from the crowd and removed their hoods. Guards were running to stop Atlas, but Rita was faster. Icicles sprouted from their chests as Atlas ran to Flynn. She shot one at Atlas’s mother too, and it passed close enough for flecks of ice to sprinkle on her cheek, but she was gone before Rita could make another move.  
“Flynn, cuffs!” Atlas shouted above the commotion as people scattered, fleeing from the war zone that was now the courtroom.  
Flynn drew his sword and sliced through the iron, causing the cuffs to fall off. “I am not happy with you, Atlas!” Flynn growled.  
“Hey, my plan worked, didn’t it?” Atlas grinned as Flynn cut down a guard and Atlas shot another.   
The guardians fired several bolts of lighting at them, but Rita protected them with a wall of ice. On the other side Fang descended on them and tore them to pieces, splattering the ice with blood. “Can you two lovebirds stop arguing for a second, we need to know where we’re going now!” Rita demanded.  
Atlas looked around, most everyone was gone or dead. The guards and Guardians were taken care of, and his brother and mother had escaped. “The place we’re looking for shouldn’t be far from here, if memory serves,” he said. “If we get moving we might be able to get there before they have a chance to send anyone else after us.”  
They ran out of the courtroom following Atlas. Rita stopped once they were out, and Atlas turned to see what was wrong. “I’ll meet you guys there, I need to do something first,” she said.  
“What the heck could you have to do in this city?” Atlas asked. “And how will you find us?”  
“I made sure to tag you all with some of my water, as long as I keep a little bit of my energy in it I’ll be able to track you. Don’t worry about me, just go.”  
Atlas rolled his eyes. “I’m more than a little weirded out knowing you have that ability. Whatever, let’s go, guys, Rita can take care of herself.”

They were maybe halfway there before they met with resistance, unfortunately that resistance was in the form of three bronze golems. They were big, similar to the one the Clockwork Wizard had used, but they were newer, more advanced. Atlas found himself wishing he and Fang had practiced that metal magic technique more. It took a lot of concentration, and he wasn’t sure he could pull it off with three golems attacking at once, as well as them being down a fighter.  
Fang was at an advantage this time, the clock tower had been mostly metal where they fought the golem, but here the streets and houses were made of stone. One of the golems swung at her, she ducked under the blow, encased her leg in stone and kicked it in the chest. The metal dented and the golem stumbled back. Fang ran up the wall of a nearby building and found her way behind her opponent, tearing bricks from the wall as she went. The bricks formed a pillar, and like a giant’s fist punched it in the back. The metal buckled and creaked, and the golem fell forward, straight into a spike of earth that tore through the weakened armor, spearing its core.  
The hardened bronze was too tough for Flynn’s sword to cut through, but the golem was also slow. They seemed to be at a stalemate, since his fire didn’t seem to do much either, just make it hot. He had been firing a jet of flame at one of the arms of the golem, and it lashed out at him with the glowing, fiery limb. He raised his sword to block as he stepped aside, and when it met the hot bronze it bit through. Flynn was surprised, his sword hadn’t been able to cut through it before. Then he realized, the flame must soften the metal. Ice melted when it met fire, maybe metal did something similar. It was a gamble, but he could hope. He rushed in, too close for the golem to hit him, and placed his hand on the chest. Fire erupted forth, hotter and hotter, searing the metal giant, making it glow, more and more, he wasn’t sure when it would be enough, but it had to be now, as the golem was bringing its arms in to try and crush him. He brought his sword around and stabbed at the hot metal. It slid through easily and pierced the core, causing the giant to convulse and fall to the ground.  
Atlas felt just a little inadequate, as Fang and Flynn were single-handedly taking down golems, while he had yet to accomplish anything more than dodging his. He chanced to glance up and see a man on a roof, a topaz on his left glove. Every puppet needed a puppet master. He raised his pistol and shot the man in the head. His golem fell uselessly to the ground. Wasn’t flashy like the others, but he got the job done. Just for good measure he and Fang tore apart the lifeless golem so no one else could use it against them. Atlas considered using it himself, but it was bulky and slow, it would only cost them time.

Rita stared into the cold, cruel eyes of Atlas’s mother, Marie Pennycog. She had escaped to a private room, but Rita tracked her down. She didn’t seem remotely surprised or worried that Rita was here.  
“You’re the girl that was throwing ice around in the courtroom,” Marie said calmly. “I assume my son brought you.” Rita nodded. “I’m impressed you found me, and what of my guards?”  
“I tagged you with my ice before you ran,” Rita explained, “your guards are taken care of. You’re surprisingly calm, given the circumstances.”  
She raised an eyebrow. “Should I fear you? Why? Because you killed a few guards? Because you wield a power I have never seen? I am a more formidable foe than you may realize.” She raised her left arm to show the Topaz on her long glove. “Now then, girl, why did you find it necessary to come find me?”  
“I needed to see you with my own eyes,” Rita said. “Needed to see the woman who would do such horrible things to her son and still see fit to call herself a mother.”  
That seemed to annoy her. “Watch your tongue, girl. I am the mother of one of the councilors of Topal, and an aristocrat in my own right, a resident of the second ring. You would do well to remember to respect your betters.”  
Rita shook her head. “A woman like you doesn’t deserve my respect. No mother should ever treat her child the way you treated Atlas.”  
“I had one good son, my second was weak and dumb in comparison, what good is a second son that can’t live up to the first?”  
“Atlas is brilliant and kind, and yet you did everything in your power to tear that gift from him. He’s a good guy. He’s a great guy. He helps people, even if he refuses to admit it, but he’s messed up. Because of you. You, the one person in the world who should have shown him unconditional love, who should have made him feel accepted no matter what. The one person he should have been able to trust and you betrayed him! It’s no wonder he can’t trust anyone. No wonder he lies, and especially can’t trust women, the one woman in his life was a monster!”  
Marie strode towards Rita, she was amazed the woman could move so quickly in those heels, and slapped her across the face. It stung, but it was nothing compared to what she’s sure she had put her son through. “Bite your tongue, you little bitch,” Marie hissed through clenched teeth. “What right does a child like you have to tell me how to be a mother? Who do you think you are?”  
“I’m Atlas’s friend who just wanted to understand how you could have done what you did,” Rita said calmly. She looked her in the eyes. “I have every right to tell you how to be a mother when you torture and break your children.” Rita punched Marie in the face.  
Marie stumbled back, shocked. She had never been hit, that was obvious. She was flustered, furious. “How dare you!?” She screeched.  
Rita shook out her hand, the knuckles were a little red. “I know, punching isn’t very ‘ladylike’ but I never cared about that crap anyway. If someone deserves to be punched, I don’t see why I shouldn’t just because I’m a girl.” Rita took a step towards Marie. “That was for slapping me, by the way.” She punched her again, much harder this time, right in the nose. Marie fell to the ground, blood pouring from her broken nose. “That was for what you did to Atlas.” She knelt down and grabbed her by the face, forcing her to look into her eyes. She was scared, for the first time those cold eyes were terrified, shaking. “If you ever hurt Atlas again, I won’t let you off this easily.”  
Rita stood and turned to leave. She had only taken a few steps, Marie raised her arm, her Topaz glowed with energy, but Rita wasn’t one to be caught off guard. Water flashed out faster than the eye could see and encased Marie’s arm, her magic backfired and shocked her, sending her into a violent convulsion.  
Rita turned, the air chilled. She had what Flynn called her ‘princess face’ on. She took a step forward. “That was a powerful bolt, it could have killed me,” Rita said coldly, her icy eyes trained on the shaking woman on the ground. “Where I come from, people who make an attempt on the life of a member of the royal family are drowned.”  
Marie’s eyes got even wider, it almost seemed they would pop out of her skull. “Royal… family?”  
Rita used the water to lift Marie up by her neck so that she was on her knees in front of her. “My name is Princess Rita Anastasia Riverwinter, heir to Sapphus and all its territories, and you, aristocrat, would do well to remember to respect your betters.”  
“Princess? Princess! Please, no! Spare me! You could marry my son! Not Atlas, but Jack! He’s a councilor! We could unite our cities! Create an empire!”  
Rita couldn’t believe how low this woman would sink. Disgusting. “You try to bargain with me now? After you hurt my friend!?”  
“Everything I did to Atlas was to make him strong-”  
Rita had heard enough. The water slithered into her mouth and nose, stopping her from breathing. Rita watched calmly as the pathetic woman panicked at the sensation of drowning. She grabbed at her throat, clawed at her mouth and nose, tearing skin and flesh away to try and breathe, but it was in her throat and nasal passages, that wouldn’t help. She clawed at her throat, tearing herself apart in an attempt to survive. She was a fighter, Rita had to admit, as low as her tactics were, she was determined to live. Luckily for her Rita never planned to kill her. She hated her, wanted to kill her, but for Atlas’s sake she wouldn’t. Killing a friend’s mother wasn’t something you did, no matter how horrible she was. Besides, if she was going to be killed, Atlas would want the honor himself. Once the woman had lost consciousness Rita returned her water to her canteen and stopped the bleeding that Marie had brought upon herself. Before she left she took a long look at the twitching, bloody, pale body before her. She wasn’t so pretty anymore, and never would be again.

“This is the place,” Atlas said once they entered the hangars that held all of the inventions too big to fit anywhere else.   
“So where is the thing we’re looking for?” Flynn asked.  
“One of these room,” Atlas replied, “let’s split up and look for it, think really, really big balloon.”

Atlas had a hunch as to where it might be, so he started in that area first. It only took a couple of tries to find the right room. The hangar was massive, and with good reason, the zeppelin inside needed the space. He grinned when he saw it, he’d been betting on the hope that his brother had finished it since he left, and he had, it seemed. It was still a prototype, but it looked like all the pieces were in place. He considered going to find the others, but decided that they would find him soon enough, he needed to get this thing started up. He ran to the lever on the wall and charged it with electricity. The cogs began to turn and the ceiling opened up, revealing the sky above them. It was a surprisingly clear day. He raised his arm and fired the most powerful bolt of lighting he could muster into the sky. A flare, the last piece of the plan was coming together.   
He now ran to the zeppelin, he just needed to get it running. He put his hand on the handle, but someone grabbed his arm from behind and threw him to the ground. It was Jack. “You think I didn’t know you’d try to make another escape?” his brother laughed. “And of course you’d want to do it in the flashiest way possible, and steal the most that you could from me. You’re easy to read, little brother. I’ve always been smarter than you, kid.”  
Atlas tried to draw his gun but Jack kicked him in the face. Jack drew his own gun now, pointing it at Atlas. It looked like he’d made improvements to his design. “You like it?” Jack asked, “since you stole my old one I made myself a new one, and this one has more accuracy and power than that rusty junk you took before. When I pull the trigger it will go right between your eyes.”  
“But is it waterproof?” Atlas grinned.  
Jack gave him an odd look. “Why would it be waterproof?”  
Atlas shrugged. “Mine’s waterproof, so I beat you there.”  
“I am so sick of your quips and bullshit!” Jack growled, kicking Atlas in the side. He hit him again and again. “I’ve always been smarter, stronger, better, but you always had to have the last word! Always had to try and one up me, even when you knew you would lose! You’re nothing but a rat! You should never have been born! What is the purpose of a second son so inferior to the first!?”  
Atlas coughed up a little blood. “For being so sure you’re better than me, you seem awfully mad, Jack. You worried I’ll beat you?”  
Jack laughed at that. “How could I not be mad? Your whole life watching you struggle to make something of yourself when you’re so painfully inadequate? Trying to steal the spotlight from me, when you know I was the good son. You are worthless, Atlas. How could you ever beat me?”  
Atlas sat himself up now that Jack had stopped kicking him. Everything hurt. “You’re right. You’re smarter, and stronger. You’re better looking, luckier, you’re willing to do anything it takes to get ahead, but I’ll still beat you. Because there is one thing I have that you don’t.”  
“And what is that? A brain tumor?”  
“Friends.”  
Jack laughed.  
“You’re cruel, you use people and throw them away. You have false allies, but there is not a single person you know who would join you in battle when push comes to shove. No one who has your back no matter what. There is no one who would travel the world with you, smile with you, cry with you. You’re alone, Jack. Nobody likes you. You’re a dick.”  
Jack raised his gun to Atlas’s head. “Lot of good those friends are to you now.”  
Atlas chuckled. “For how smart you are, you’ve always had a bad habit of letting me ramble on, always hoping to hear something you could use to hurt me more.”  
“What are you talking about?”  
“And you’re supposed to be the smart brother. I was stalling, Jack.”  
“You-” Jack took Fang’s kick in the ribs, which sent him flying across the room, slamming into the wall. Fang wasted no time in pouncing on him.  
Atlas stood up as Flynn ran to him. “Glad you made it in time.”  
“Are you okay?” Flynn asked.  
Atlas stretched. It hurt, but he would be fine. He looked down, Jack had dropped his gun. He picked it up. “I will be.” He approached Jack, who Fang had stood onto his knees, holding his arms behind his back. “Looks like the tables have turned, brother.” He raised the gun to Jack’s head. “Any last words?”  
“You don’t have the guts.”  
“You clearly don’t know me well.” The Clockwork Wizard flashed into his mind. Pulling the trigger was easy when it was necessary.  
Flynn grabbed Atlas’s arm as his finger twitched on the trigger. He pulled it away, and Atlas looked at him, furious. “Atlas, what are you doing?”  
“I’m killing my brother, what does it look like!?”  
“I’m not letting you do that!”  
“Flynn, after everything he’s put me through, you’d tell me not to kill him!? He’s the reason I can’t sleep some nights! He is everything that’s wrong with me! Without him maybe my mother would have treated me like a human being! He’s-”  
Flynn grabbed Atlas by the hair and slammed their foreheads together with enough force for Atlas to stumble back. “Atlas, stop being a jackass!” he yelled. “I know you! If you kill him you’ll regret it!”  
“Why?” Atlas growled, “why the hell would I regret it!?”  
“You’ve been like this ever since we decided to come here, and I thought you were getting better, but I was wrong. You’ve convinced me that a lot of bad stuff is worth doing, killing people is one thing, but I will not let you kill your family! I am drawing the line and I am not letting you cross it! He’s a horrible person, I agree. He hurt you, and he deserves to be hurt, but… I don’t want you to stoop to his level. To become bitter and jaded and angry like him. If you kill him it will weigh on you, hold you down. You’ll know he died thinking you were nothing but a jealous failure. But you’re more than that. You’re going to do great things, and I think you need him to live so he can see you surpass him. You don’t need to forgive him. Just please, Atlas, don’t pull the trigger.”  
Atlas looked at the gun in his hand and gritted his teeth. The Clockwork Wizard showed up again. The guilt, the weight of pulling the trigger. No matter how many times he told himself it was necessary or easy, he knew he was lying. Always lying. He aimed it at Jack and shot him in the leg. “Let’s get going.”  
Rita ran into the room. “There you guys are- and your brother, nice to see you. Is that the thing we’re stealing? It is big! By the way, there are a lot of guards on their way! We should move!”  
Atlas pulled open the large door to the inside of the zeppelin. “Get in, we need to go!”  
Fang threw Jack to the ground harder than was necessary, cracking his head on the floor. “What about Ash and the others?” Fang said.  
Atlas smiled a little. “That’s the last part of the plan.”  
Just as they boarded the zeppelin guards stormed in, not looking for them, but running. Ash and Shiva burst in, tearing the guards apart with teeth and claws, shortly behind were Mouth and Tooth riding Storm and Shadow.  
“Cavalry’s arrived, my friends!” Mouth shouted as Ash tossed a guard in the air and Shiva jumped to catch him and slam him into the ground. Atlas had briefed Mouth on the plan before they had gone to the entertainment district. He hadn’t counted on the masked ants showing up, but he’d always planned to turn himself in. The flare was for them, to know where to bring the animals.  
“Stop talking and get these guys on board!” Tooth laughed.  
“It’s great to see you guys again!” Flynn smiled as they helped reign in the animals and get them on the airship. “Are you coming with us?”  
“Nah,” Mouth said, “we’ve got kiddies to take care of here, can’t well be running off.”  
“How are you escaping?” Rita asked, “guards are everywhere.”  
“We know a thing or two about disappearing,” Tooth smiled.  
“But enough chatter!” Mouth exclaimed, “you kids have a city in the sky to see!” He slammed his fist on the side of the zeppelin and Atlas started the ship flying up through the open ceiling from the cockpit, then ran to the door to say his goodbyes.  
“See you around, Mouth, Tooth!” Atlas called as they rose into the air.  
Mouth and Tooth waved. A woman ran into the room, looking terrified at the sight of Jack lying on the ground. She ran to him and helped him up, saying something they couldn’t quite make out. “You his wife?” Atlas called to the woman, who was crying. She nodded. “I’m his brother! And you should probably know, he killed your dad and your fiancé!”   
She didn’t believe him, he knew that, but that didn’t matter, because Jack was cold and calculating, he couldn’t let her suspect. He could blame it on them. He pulled out his knife and moved to stab her. Luckily, Tooth saw that coming and punched him in the side of the head and took his knife from him, pinning him down.  
“I suggest telling someone quick!” Atlas called. The woman ran off. At least he’d managed to mess up his brother’s carefully constructed life.  
As they closed the door Atlas reveled in the sound of his brother cursing him and intermittently being hit by Tooth.

Watching the city get smaller and smaller and fade away was soothing after such a hectic experience. Fang and the animals didn’t seem to agree, they were not fans of air travel. Fang in particular seemed ready to vomit. Flynn was with her, and Rita was in the cockpit with Atlas. It was surprisingly spacious, and well stocked. It seemed they were preparing to go somewhere before they had stolen it. There was food and water and even munitions. More bombs, gunpowder and bullets for Atlas. He wouldn’t run out anytime soon.   
“How do you know how to fly this thing?” Rita asked.  
“I used to play around in it when my brother was designing it, I picked up a few things,” Atlas explained.  
“Could you teach me?” She asked. “You’ve got to sleep at some point, it’d be best if we could trade off.”  
“Yeah, maybe, in a bit. If you think you can handle it.” He paused. “So, what was it you did back in Topal when you left?”  
She shook her head. “Nothing. Just stuff.”  
“Rita, it’s my city. I know you didn’t have unfinished business there, so whatever you did had to have to do with me.”  
Rita frowned. “I may have paid your mother a visit.”  
Atlas looked at her. “And?”  
“And I talked to her.”  
“That’s it?”  
“I also… might have punched her in the face.”  
Atlas burst into hysterical laughter and fell back from the controls. Rita was worried, but it seemed like they weren’t falling, and still headed in the right direction, so she let him laugh. He looked at her, tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. “You really punched my mom in the face?”  
Rita shrugged. “She deserved it.”  
Atlas looked at the ground and sighed. “Rita, I’m sorry. For everything. The way I’ve treated you up until now. You don’t deserve that, you’re a good person.”  
Rita smiled. “Thanks, that means a lot. I know you’ve been through a lot, I don’t blame you for being so wary.”  
Atlas nodded. “Still, I’ve been out of line, and I apologize.”  
Rita grinned. “Alright, now don’t go getting all mushy on me, we settled our differences, but this is getting weird, you haven’t called me princess in like five minutes.”  
Atlas laughed, “Good point, princess, we start getting too friendly and Fang and Flynn might start to worry that we’re sick or something.”  
“But from now on when I call you Cog-butt-”  
“Or I call you The Princess of Trout-”  
“We know we’re just kidding.”  
Atlas smiled. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, your highness.”  
“You’re kind of royalty yourself now, aren’t you, Prince Pennycog?”  
Atlas snorted. “Doesn’t really work that way. Also, I think wanted felon overshadows councilor’s brother.”  
They sat in silence for a moment. “How does this thing not get struck by lightning?” Rita asked.  
“Topaz. Big chunks around the ship keep the lightning at bay. It’s how the city keeps lightning at bay, the Topaz protects it.”  
“So the lighting rods in the city?”  
“Aesthetic.”  
“Ah.”

It wasn’t long before they could see the city in the sky, flying was much faster than riding. What had taken them months on foot now only took a couple of weeks. They werestill too far to see much detail, but it was clear now that there was a giant land mass floating in the sky before them with several smaller land masses floating around it. What seemed to be birds flying around it at first eventually revealed themselves to be griffins as a cluster flew towards them. People were riding on them, it seemed. Atlas and the others were all in the cockpit to see the approach. Suddenly one of the people riding a griffin leapt off, seemed to grow wings and fly towards them- or was that gliding? It was amazing to watch, that is, until it was clear they weren’t stopping and slammed right into their windshield.


	16. The City in the Sky, Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team finally arrives in the city in the sky

Chapter 16: The City in the Sky, Part One

He had flipped around and landed on the windshield with his feet, and was crouched down staring in at them. He seemed around their age, his hair blowing wildly in the wind, Atlas saw an earring in his left ear which held a beautiful diamond. Upon seeing them he grinned widely and gestured at them, Atlas couldn’t tell what he was trying to say, then he leaped off the window and was gone.  
“What was that?” Atlas asked the others.  
“He’s coming in,” Fang replied.  
At first all Atlas could wonder was how Fang had gleaned that from the odd gestures he had made, then he realized it would be a disaster if he opened the door while they were this high up. It was all theory to him, but the whole point of stealing the zeppelin was to keep the outside air out.  
Atlas ran to the door, but he didn’t make it in time, it was already opening- why didn’t the prototype have locks?- he braced for the explosive decompression. Nothing happened. The boy from outside walked in and there wasn’t even a breeze. The air remained calm. Looking at him now it was clear he did not have wings. He was about their age, maybe a little older, but not by much, and taller than any of them. He was strikingly handsome and carried himself with a sort of good-natured charisma. He pushed back his messy hair which was so pale it was almost white, though with some very light green highlights that almost seemed a trick of the light. His eyes were pale blue and he wore an odd, incredibly baggy outfit that almost seemed like robes, save for the belt, boots and gloves. On his back he wore a longbow and quiver. He closed the door behind him and looked at them like it wasn’t at all strange that a boy just jumped off a griffin, landed on their zeppelin and then came in without causing any sort of catastrophe.  
“Uh, hi,” he said with a smile.  
“Hey, buddy, how’s it going?” Atlas said uncomfortably. “Also, who are you?”  
“Pretty good, thanks for asking,” he laughed. “Name’s Gale Stormwind, a guardian from Diaem.”  
Atlas frowned. “Aren’t you a little young to be a guardian?”  
“In Diaem we start training when we’re young so by the time we’re thirteen we’re ready to start work.”  
“Oh wow, that actually happens somewhere,” Atlas said in amazement, “and here I thought I was being creative.”  
“Now it’s my turn,” Gale said, “who are you guys?”  
“How strict are your immigration laws?” Atlas asked.  
“What?”  
“Because you stole one of my lies and we have one more member since I last had to make up who we were, so you’ll need to give me a minute.”  
Rita sighed. “What Atlas means is we’re travelers, we’re out to see the world. We’re not guardians, but we do all possess stones. We’re not here to cause any trouble, just see your city.”  
“I would have mentioned the dinosaurs. Way cooler,” Atlas pouted. Fang nodded in agreement.  
“Travelers from where?” Gale asked. “I’ve never seen anything like this thing you’re in, and I’ve flown out pretty far in every direction, and never seen another island.”  
Atlas was confused at first, and then he realized what he meant. “Gale, we’re not from the sky like you, we’re from down below, on the surface.”  
Gale’s eyes grew wide in surprise and he jumped back. “ Woah, what!? People live down there!? I thought there were only monsters and stuff! You’re saying there’s a city down there too? With other humans?” He looked at Rita. “Other, very pretty humans.”  
“Can this stop happening everywhere we go, please?” Rita sighed.  
“Four cities, actually,” Atlas explained, “I come from Topal, the city of electricity, Flynn here is from Ruban, the city of fire, Fang is from Emerala, the city of earth, and Rita is from Sapphus, the city of water. I think there’s probably a lot more down there than you realize. Have you never thought to fly down there?”  
Gale shook his head. “The first guardian went, but when he returned the stories say all he reported were monsters, and that we should stay away. There have been a few guardians who have tried, but none have ever returned. So yeah, we figure bad news, keep out.” He looked at them all. “Wow, a whole world down there, huh?”  
“Though there are plenty of monsters,” Flynn added. “Just also people.”  
Gale smiled. “The elders will want to meet you, I have a lot of questions, and I have a feeling they do too.”  
“For once we’re actually accepted into a city like normal people,” Atlas chuckled.  
“As normal as you can get when you’re in the sky,” Rita said.  
Gale moved to the door, “I’ll go out and tell the others, you just follow my lead and we’ll find a way for you to land this thing.”  
“Wait,” Atlas stopped him, “I want to know, how did you get in without letting out all the air in here?”  
Gale tapped on his earring. “Magic. The air is thin up here, so only guardians can leave the city. We keep ourselves surrounded in the air from the city.”  
“Your city has normal air?” Flynn asked.  
Gale nodded. “The Diamond keeps it in a livable range. That’s part of why we’ve never left, most of us can’t. Anyway, see you on the island! Try to keep up!” And with that he opened the door, shut it behind him and hopped off. Atlas could now see through the window that when he spread his arms and legs his baggy clothes caught the wind in a way that allowed him to glide around, likely with the aid of magic. He landed on his waiting griffin and rejoined with the other guardians.  
“So that was weird,” Rita said after a moment.  
“This is so cool!” Flynn exclaimed.  
“I like his bird,” Fang mumbled.

The city of Diaem seemed to float atop the clouds, a giant island in the sky. They landed the zeppelin in a sort of dock for what appeared to be flying carriages, though there wasn’t quite enough room so they had to move the carriages out of the way. The primary island was massive, though smaller than any other city, and seemed to hold most of the housing and market areas. It seemed more like a town than a city, with short buildings, all spaced out from each other, rather than tall and packed together like in Topal. It seemed almost quaint, homey. The architecture was beautiful but simple, a mix of stone, cloth, leather and feathers. The only tall building was the one in the center where the stone had to be, and the few buildings around it, which were smaller, but larger than the rest. Somehow everything seemed fresh, the air was clean, and the ground was either green grass or paved stone, everything was carefully taken care of and neat. Flynn supposed it was easier to take care of your city when you didn’t have surrounding areas to worry about or refugees from outside the walls coming in. There didn’t seem to be many people, much like a village. It was bustling, sure, but everyone seemed to have a home and a place to go, there were no slums, no homeless children like in every other city they had been to.  
The outer islands, the smaller ones, seemed to be used for a single use each. Only a few had housing, most had a single farm (there were farms on the main island too, but smaller ones) or one large building. One had a large grass field with kids playing some sort of game on it.  
“This is beautiful,” Flynn smiled as Gale lead them along the paved pathway. All above them birds and people on griffins flew by. People all around were stopping to look at them, curious or confused.  
“Glad you like it,” Gale laughed. “Are your cities like this?”  
“Not quite,” Atlas frowned. “A bit more…”  
“Evil,” Fang growled.  
“Sure, that’s a word,” Atlas sighed.  
“We have more class disparity in our cities,” Rita explained, “there are slums and homeless, as well as the incredibly rich and prosperous. The cities are not nearly as well groomed as this throughout, and not everyone is a good person.”  
Gale looked sad. “That’s sad to hear. What class are you guys from?”  
Guess gale didn’t realize that’s not really something you ask someone. Atlas pointed to himself, “Upper,” Flynn, “lower,” Fang, “Slave,” Rita, “Princess.”  
“Slave and Princess, what are those?” Gale asked.  
“People owned me, I killed them,” Fang growled.  
“My mother is a Queen, the ruler of my city,” Rita explained.  
“Gorgeous and royalty! It must be my lucky day!” Gale smiled at Rita. She laughed, but Flynn didn’t think she was interested. Fang looked annoyed.

Their destination was one of the larger buildings in the city, just outside the pillar where the diamond was kept. Inside was a large open room, a colorful carpet in the center and draperies on the walls. On one side of the room sat three incredibly old men and two equally elderly women. They were seated behind a wooden table, and all wore ornate robes. Gale knelt before them, bowing and taking a seat on the ground. The others followed suit, save Fang who simply plopped herself on the ground.  
“Elders,” Gale began, for once being serious, “I sent word ahead, so I’m sure you’ve heard, but these four individuals come from the land below. They do not seem to be troublemakers, and I believe there is much they could teach us.”  
The five elders looked them over with discerning eyes. The man in the center spoke. “I agree. I for one am curious as to what occurs beneath the clouds. It could prove vital information for our community.”  
“Are you not worried?” One of the women asked. “We know nothing about them, they could seek to destroy us for all we know.”  
“If four children could destroy us then perhaps we were meant to be destroyed,” the man in the center replied. “Have faith in our guardians.” He looked at them all again. “We will have to discuss the specifics among ourselves, but for now I believe it acceptable that you are allowed free reign of our city, so long as you are given an escort. We will find you lodgings. We hope to learn much from you.”  
“As do I,” Atlas smiled.  
“I volunteer to be their escort, sir,” Gale said.  
The elder nodded. “Very well.”  
“And the Sage’s hut has more than enough space to accommodate them as well,” Gale continued.  
“If the Sage would allow it, I will not complain,” the elder agreed. “I suggest you see him at once.”

“That was easier than I expected,” Atlas said as they left the building of the elders. “In half the other cities I’ve been to I ended up in a prison.”  
“Why would we put you in prison?” Gale asked. “Do you plan to hurt us?”  
“I’m just not used to humans actually being kind,” Atlas chuckled.  
“So long as you don’t try anything we’ll all be plenty hospitable,” Gale laughed. “I like to think that most the people in Diaem are good at heart.”  
“You mentioned a Sage’s hut?” Rita asked.  
“That’s where I live,” Gale explained. “The Sage raised my sister and I, and even with the three of us there’s still plenty of room. The Sage gets one of the largest homes in the city, even though he doesn’t really have a reason for it.”  
“Who is the Sage?” Flynn asked.  
“Do you not have them in your cities?” Gale frowned. “Once a generation the Diamond chooses someone to be its Sage. It will glow brightly for one full day, and that means that someone born that day is meant to be the next Sage. Any children born that day are brought before the Diamond the next day, and when the one chosen is brought before it a huge chunk of Diamond will fall off, and that is used to make earrings for the child who will one day be the Sage. My sister was chosen as the next Sage, which is why she lives with the Sage, Sages are trained from birth for their duty.”  
“Yeah, we don’t have anything like that,” Rita said. “What exactly does a Sage do?”  
“The Sage communes with the Diamond. They make sure it’s feeling well, after all, if the Diamond were to fail somehow our city would fall. They spend much of the day simply sitting with the Diamond and trying to understand how it feels and what it needs. As you can imagine, there’s not really much upkeep. Mostly polishing. Really, the Sage is just a respected figure to all of us. He is often asked about decisions the council of elders cannot make themselves, and is even able to overrule a decision made by them, though he rarely does.”  
“And they’re just letting four strange kids stay at his house?” Atlas asked.  
Gale laughed. “He’s in no danger. The Sage is the most powerful mage in Diaem. He puts the guardians to shame. I was lucky to have been raised by him, he taught me a lot, even before I went to the guardian academy.”  
“Were you and your sister taken from your parents because she was chosen to be the Sage?” Rita asked.  
Gale shook his head. “I call her my sister, but we’re not related by blood. She was chosen as the Sage, and so she was never allowed to know her true parents, and they were sworn to keep silent. The Sage’s duties are that of solitude and a Sage cannot be biased, so family is taken out of the equation. In my case my parents died when I was still too young to remember them. Apparently the Sage knew my parents and he petitioned to take me in.”  
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Rita frowned.  
Gale shrugged. “I never knew them, so I don’t miss them. I had an excellent father and an amazing sister. Maybe I didn’t have my blood related parents but I still think I lucked out when it comes to family.” There was a pause. “But enough about all that, let’s go see the Sage, I’m sure he’d like to know you guys are going to be staying with us. He might be a little surprised to see four new kids lounging around his house. I’m sure he won’t mind two more pretty girls, though.”  
Fang punched him in the side.  
“Ow! Oh, ouch! I just said you were pretty, I didn’t mean to-” she punched him again. “Ah! Why!?”  
“If Fang wanted to hurt you you would be a splatter on the ground by now,” Atlas assured Gale, “she just doesn’t deal with praise well.”  
“Well then, I guess I’ll have to get used to being hit,” Gale grinned.  
This time she kicked him.

The Sage’s home proved to look much like the council’s building, though somehow more homey. Before entering, a Griffin landed beside Gale.  
“Holy- bird!” Atlas exclaimed as it set down directly in front of him. “Where did this-”  
Gale laughed. “He’s been flying overhead this whole time. This is my partner, Talon.”  
“Partner?” Flynn asked.  
“Every guardian needs a griffin,” Gale explained, “and he’s the most Talon-ted partner I could ever ask for.”  
Silence.  
“Was that supposed to be a joke?” Atlas asked. Even Talon looked disappointed in him.  
“I’m pretty sure the puns are the only reason he named his poor griffin that,” a girl said, walking out of the house. She was around their age, perhaps a little younger. She was of average height with a pretty face. Her hair was stark white, shoulder length and curled and flipped out on the ends. Her eyes were mint green and she wore elegant robes, much finer than any they had seen before, even those worn by the elders. Gorgeous earrings of diamond dangled from her ears.  
“This is my sister, Paige. Paige the Sage,” Gale said. “Paige, these are the kids from the surface.”  
“I’ve heard about you,” Paige said, looking them over. “Word travels fast. Especially when someone shows up claiming to be from an inhospitable land.” She looked at Rita and Fang. “I imagine Gale has already been hitting on both of you, sorry about that, he’s an idiot.”  
Rita laughed. “I don’t mind much, and Fang doesn’t let him off unscathed, no worries.”  
“Where’s the Sage?” Gale asked.  
“Master should be with the Diamond. He’ll be done soon, I imagine, we can head over to see him, if you want.”  
Gale nodded. “He’ll want to know about the outsiders staying with us.”

This was the first stone Flynn had ever laid eyes on. He was close to the Sapphire in the castle, but he’d never been allowed to see it. The Diamond was massive, almost unbelievably so. It was kept in a huge, open tower, allowing for the sun and wind to enter freely through an open roof and six doorless archways. It was polished and clear, there was nothing comparable to looking into it. He could feel the magical energies, simultaneously oppressive and freeing. He had never tasted air so fresh or clear as this. It rose from the ground in a fat, jagged, ugly spire, and yet somehow it was still beautiful, even uncut and ill-shaped as it was.  
“Amazing, right?” Gale grinned. “You’d think you’d get used to it, but you never do. It’s always breathtaking.” They approached the Sage. “Master, I’ve brought some guests.”  
The Sage stood, he was the oldest man they had ever seen, he made the elders look young. He held himself up with the aid of an unremarkable staff, and despite his age his old eyes were vibrant. He wore the same robes as Paige, and dangling from his ears were ornate diamond earrings. “So the stone has told me. It sensed pieces of its fellows approaching.” He looked them over. “To think there would be such beautiful young ladies among them! Ho-ho!”  
“Is every guy in the city like this?” Rita asked.  
Paige sighed. “No, just these two idiots.”  
“I requested they stay with us while they’re in the city,” Gale said.  
The Sage nodded. “I would be honored to host these kids, so young, so full of life. I imagine you have quite a few stories to tell.”  
Atlas grinned. “At least a couple. Should we start from the beginning or skip straight to the fun parts where we take down giant golems and cannibal witches in the woods?”  
The Sage smiled back. “I’d like to hear all of it. Come, let’s head back to the house, it’s getting late, you can all explore tomorrow. For the night let’s prepare a meal and talk of your adventures.”

Upon returning to the house the Sage had them all prepare a meal together- he said that even though they were guests they were expected to pull their weight- and after that they spent the night recounting their adventures to Gale, Paige and the Sage. They were given two rooms, one for Flynn and Atlas and another for Fang and Rita. They were also informed that their mounts were being kept at a pasture not far off.

“So what do you do around here for fun?” Atlas asked as he, Flynn and Gale walked around the next day. Fang still wasn’t used to being so far off the ground and wasn’t quite up to going out, so Rita stayed home with her.  
“Me?” Gale asked, “I usually go flying with Talon or play Airball with the kids.”  
“I feel like it must be kind of boring stuck on this island,” Atlas said. Like he was one to talk, not like being stuck in a city was any better. There was a reason he left, and it was more than just his family, captivity just wasn’t for him.  
Gale shrugged. “I have tons of friends, and being a guardian I have the entire sky at my fingertips.” He sighed. “Not like I don’t feel trapped sometimes though.”  
“Trapped?” Flynn asked.  
“Not trapped, that makes it sound like I don’t like being here,” Gale corrected himself, “It’s just, like, I want to have great adventures and fight giant monsters and meet pretty girls, but… Well, not much happens up here. The last great debate we had was whether to expand the farm on Griffin Island or if it would encroach too close to the griffin coops.”  
“Riveting,” Atlas muttered.  
“Honestly, after hearing your stories I’m kind of jealous of you guys,” Gale laughed. “You’ve fought the giant monsters, saved towns, killed bandits, you guys are heroes!”  
Atlas gave him a look. “We’re not heroes. Everything we do we do for personal gain. We get paid to save towns, we steal money from the bandits, we fight monsters so they don’t kill us.”  
“What about the kids you saved from the ice witch?” Gale asked.  
“Not like we could just leave a bunch of kids in a crazy woman’s basement,” Atlas sighed.  
Gale grinned. “And that’s what makes you heroes. You could have. But you didn’t. You took them with you even though they were only trouble for you going ahead. Face it, Atlas, you guys are heroes. I’m just a kid with a bow flying around wishing he could make a difference.”  
Flynn had never thought about it before. Was he a hero? Were they all? Atlas was greedy and only sought survival, but he ended up helping people more often than not. Rita wanted to help everyone she met. Fang… well, Fang never hurt anyone that didn’t deserve it. What about him? He thought of Damun, he was a hero. Could he live up to that? Maybe not yet, but one day… One day he would make Damun proud. One day maybe he could call himself a hero.

“I’m going shopping,” Paige said, “you guys want to come along?”  
“You feel up to it?” Rita asked Fang.  
Fang nodded. “Can we see Ash?”  
Paige laughed. “We’ll stop by on the way back.”  
“So what’s it like being the next Sage?” Rita asked as they walked to the market.  
Paige shrugged. “It’s all I’ve ever known. I guess it’s solitary. We’re not really supposed to make close relationships so we can stay impartial, though there aren’t really strict rules on that.”  
“I know the feeling,” Rita nodded. “I was a princess, and I wasn’t even allowed out of the castle back home, I didn’t even know anyone my age until my cousin came to live with us.”  
“I envy Gale,” Paige sighed.  
“Why?” Rita asked.  
“Did you not notice?” Paige laughed. “Everyone loves him. I guess he didn’t mention it, because as big of a dork as he is he’s surprisingly humble. Gale graduated top of his class at the guardian academy, and he’s so nice and caring to everyone, he’s basically the town’s treasure. People say he’ll definitely be an elder when he’s grown up.”  
Rita chuckled. “And here I thought he was just a goofball. Don’t the girls in town get tired of him hitting on them?”  
“Surprisingly enough, they eat it up,” Paige sighed.  
“And you?”  
Paige shook her head. “I’m just a little sister to him. I’m off limits, even if we aren’t actually related.”  
“Is it just me or do you sound a little disappointed?” Rita grinned.  
Paige blushed. “Like I said, he’s an idiot.”

“Gale, you said you’d teach me how to shoot today!” The child exclaimed, tugging on Gale’s robes. It wasn’t the first person to ask Gale for a favor, just walking around he had helped an old lady get her groceries home, caught a girl’s runaway pet bird, and helped one of the griffin handlers get his flock into a carriage. Atlas couldn’t complain, he was still seeing the city and learning about their culture.  
“As long as Atlas and Flynn don’t mind the detour,” Gale smiled, patting the child on the head.  
“No problem,” Flynn said.  
“Cool, let’s head over to Arrow Island,” Gale said, walking to the edge of the island and whistling for Talon to fly down.  
“Um, how?” Atlas asked.  
“Glide over,” Gale said.  
“Yeah, dude, we can’t do that,” Atlas sighed.  
“Ah!” Gale exclaimed. “Right! I forget you guys can’t use magic- well, wind magic, I guess. You guys can ride Talon over, then.” Talon gave him a look. “Well, they need to get around somehow.” Talon rolled his eyes and nodded.  
“Great, another massive beast I’m expected to ride,” Atlas growled.  
“I thought you were over that,” Flynn said. “You’re fine riding Shadow.”  
“Shadow is different,” Atlas grumbled as they got onto the griffin. “Don't you have people in the city who can’t use magic?”  
Gale almost looked confused at the question. “No, we don’t. I guess you guys do though. The Diamond’s influence ends quite a ways out from the edge of the islands. The farther out you go the weaker it gets, but the only place where there isn’t much magical influence is Falling Isle, and nobody is allowed out that far anyway.”  
Atlas had to wonder if that lack of magic disparity in their society was why Diaem seemed like such a perfect city. Flying on a griffin was a thousand times more terrifying than riding a horse. Arrow island wasn’t far, but Atlas could swear that Talon was messing with him, diving and speeding up when it seemed completely unnecessary. Meanwhile Gale and the kid were gliding next to them laughing.  
Arrow Island proved to be no more than a relatively small island consisting of a large grass field with targets on one side and bows and arrows on the other.  
“Alright, Nate, watch my stance,” Gale said to the child once everyone was settled on the island. There were other people on the island, all practicing their shooting, though once Gale readied his bow everyone stopped to watch. He moved like it was second nature to him and fired five arrows in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Four of them hit the bull’s-eyes of four different targets, while the fifth did a loop in the air, turned around and landed right between Atlas’s legs. He jumped back and Gale grinned at him.  
“You’re just showing off,” Atlas growled. Wasn’t using magic on the arrows cheating?  
Gale shrugged. “I’ve got an audience.”  
“You could have hit me,” Atlas hissed.  
“I don’t make a shot if I’m not sure I’ll hit my mark,” Gale assured him. “What about you? You’ve got that- what did you call it? Pistol? You want to take a shot?”  
“I’ll pass,” Atlas sighed.  
Gale pouted. “Aw, Atlas, you’re no gun.”  
Atlas stared at him.  
“You know, because it’s like, you’re no fun, and also you won’t use your-”  
“I will shoot you.”

Fang seemed happy for the first time since arriving on Diaem while she was playing with Ash, and Rita enjoyed seeing Shiva as well. They were kept in a fenced-off area separate from the cows and sheep that were also kept in the pasture. Though Rita could assure them that Shiva wouldn’t attack the livestock Fang made no such promises of Ash, so just for safety they kept them apart.  
“I’m surprised there are cows and sheep up here,” Rita said as she scratched Shiva behind the ears. “I figured every animal up here had to know how to fly.”  
“There are plenty of animals that are grounded here,” Paige said, “it’s speculated that they were brought up when the Diamond first ascended the city, and we’ve kept breeding them ever since.”  
“Fascinating,” Rita said, her thirst for knowledge clear in her voice. She looked around. “Do you not have a griffin to call? I feel like you’re being left out.”  
“Sages have no reason to leave the island, so we don’t get griffins,” Paige explained, “and our robes aren’t made for gliding either, so if we ever need to travel between islands we have to take a carriage.”  
“I was wondering what those things were for,” Rita said.  
“They’re for people too young or old to glide around, as well as the Sages and elders.”  
“It sounds like you’re kind of trapped here,” Rita observed.  
“You’re not far off,” Paige nodded. “The Sages are… well protected. Our movement is restricted, since if a Sage were to get in an accident and die before they’ve trained their successor there would be no one to take their place, and even if a new Sage was born the next day there would be no one to train them.”  
“You have a lot of pressure on you to stay alive,” Rita joked.  
Paige sighed. “It really sucks sometimes. I often dream about just being able to fly around between islands like every other kid. To feel the wind on my face, feel the rush of falling and catching the air in my robes…”  
“And the times it doesn’t suck?” Rita smiled.  
Paige laughed. “Communing with the Diamond is certainly something special. The things I feel, the things I see, I’m sure there are plenty of kids in the city who would love to have my position. I’m not complaining, really, I’m grateful for my position, I’m just also aware of all the things I have to give up…”  
“Are Sages allowed to marry and have children?” Rita asked.  
Paige’s face reddened and she looked away suddenly. “Wh-where did that come from!?”  
“Just curious,” Rita grinned with a shrug.  
Paige puffed up her cheeks in indignation. “We aren’t… supposed to. Though obviously the current Sage raised us, so there is precedent for having a… family of sorts.”  
Not the kind of family she wanted, though. Best to change the subject before Paige’s face was red for so long that it stuck that way. “You always just call him the Sage, even though he’s basically your father, are you not allowed to use his name?”  
“It’s more or less a habit,” Paige shrugged, her regular color coming back, “we could call him father, but Sage just seems more natural. As for an actual name, Sages forsake their name once they are indicted. Since there is only ever one Sage there isn’t really a reason to have a name. And it’s ceremonial, apparently being nameless helps you ‘release your mortal body and transcend to the plateau on which the Diamond sits’ though I don’t think I buy that. It’s just a dumb old rule that no one wants to change because nobody wants anything to change.”  
“Sounds like you have some opinions on that,” Rita observed.  
“I mean, sure, we have a good life up here, and from what I’ve heard our city is better off than many of the others, but the elders are always so afraid of change that we never go anywhere! We always claim that we stay above the clouds because the first guardian told us there was nothing but death below them, but in reality it’s our own fear of change! There are endless possibilities down there, and yet we just sit up here twiddling our thumbs and worrying whether the next harvest will be enough to last us through the winter. Spoilers: It always is.”  
“Then why not leave?” Rita grinned. “I felt very similarly about my city, and I left. I wanted to learn more about the world, see how other cities run in order to be a better Queen one day. You could always steal a griffin and high tail it out of here.”  
Paige gave a heavy sigh and flopped back in the grass. “As much as I complain, I do love my city, and as the Sage I have a duty to it, one that I have sworn to go through with. Unfortunately leaving is not in the cards for me.”  
Rita felt a stab in her heart. She had been avoiding thinking about it, but she had a duty to her city too. If anything happened to her mother the city would be without a Queen. She supposed her uncle could take temporary guardian control of the city until she returned, but… She shook it off. Her mother was still young and strong, she would be fine until she got back, and when it finally was Rita’s time to take the throne she would start changing things for the better.

“So, I’ve been avoiding it all day, but now that it’s just us guys, I gotta ask,” Gale said as they were walking back to the Sage’s home as the sun was falling, “are either of you um, like, into Rita?”  
Atlas burst out laughing. “Oh, man, that is the first funny joke you’ve told since I met you. Good one.”  
“I’m serious,” Gale frowned. “Fang, too, I want the dirty details, any of you guys ever-”  
“Dude, we’re fourteen!” Atlas snapped, “what are you sky kids doing up here so young?”  
“I didn’t mean it like that!” Gale exclaimed, blushing. “I just meant like, have you guys had any sort of interest or have you like, kissed or something! You’re a group of teenage guys and girls traveling alone together, it’s totally normal to- oh, what am I saying?”  
Flynn laughed. “To answer your question, no. We tend to have more important things to think about, we’re all just friends.”  
“Yup,” Atlas sighed. “Cheating death on a regular basis doesn’t leave much room for teenage romance.”  
“There was that time you and Fang invented a new type of magic,” Flynn grinned, “maybe there’s something there, huh?”  
Atlas shuddered. “She would break me. I like all my limbs where they are, thank you very much.”  
Flynn had to admit, Fang would be an intimidating lover. A path better ventured by someone with more fortitude than them. Gale looked far too happy. “Well, then, I guess I’m unchallenged if I go after Rita then, right?” he almost sang.  
Flynn and Atlas looked at each other and had to stop themselves from laughing. The poor guy had no idea what he was getting himself into.


	17. The City in the Sky, Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second installment of the adventures on the city in the sky.

Chapter 17: The City in the Sky, Part Two

After two weeks or so Atlas was finally getting used to life in Diaem. They had spoken with the elders multiple times, telling their stories and informing them of life beneath the clouds, and Atlas was learning much of their culture as well.   
“So, Rita,” Gale said as they were all cleaning the table after breakfast, “I was gonna go out somewhere nice for lunch today, do you want to, you know, come along?” Paige gave out an audible groan.  
Rita smiled. “Sure, why not? Fang, you want to join?” Fang nodded. Gale looked more than a little defeated. “Flynn? Atlas?”  
They looked at each other and had to stop themselves from laughing. “No, we have, uh, things to do,” Flynn smiled.

Gale found it hard to enjoy the meal with Fang glaring at him the whole time. He had been disappointed he didn’t get to spend time alone with Rita, but in the end he was having lunch with two pretty ladies, so didn’t he really end up winning out?  
Rita took a sip of her water and looked at the cup. “I’ve been wondering this for awhile now, but how do you guys even have water up here?” It was common knowledge in the Sapphus region that with the clouds come the storms, and the clouds were below them here, so they wouldn’t get rain, would they?  
“It rains on occasion,” Gale explained, as if reading her mind, “not all of the clouds are below us, the high clouds rain on us. We also have a lake, but we only use that to drink from in emergencies, mostly we harvest water from the clouds.”  
“Harvest it?” Rita asked. “I suppose you can use your magic on the clouds to get water out?”  
“Sort of,” Gale said, “clouds are mostly water and ice, so we more have to blow them around with our magic, and then we sort of… milk them, I guess? Like a cow, only it’s a cloud filled with water.”  
“Clouds are made of water, huh?” Rita was fascinated, “I never would have guessed.”  
“Sure are,” Gale smiled, “you fly in one side, you come out the other very wet and cold.” He had a thought. “You wanna go see?”  
“The clouds?” Rita grinned.  
Gale nodded. “I can fly you down and we can check them out, if you want.”  
“Oh, Gale, you know how to treat a girl,” Rita laughed. Fang growled. “I don’t think Fang wants to fly. You don’t mind staying on the island while we go check out the clouds, do you?” Fang begrudgingly agreed.

Rita had to ride Talon along with Gale, which included holding onto Gale for stability, and she was sure he enjoyed that far too much, though he had the common sense not to say anything. There was a rush to flying that you certainly didn’t get from travel in the zeppelin, wind rushing past her, wings flapping, the clouds rushing towards them as they approached.  
“Cool, right?” Gale smirked.  
“It’s really… wow!”  
“All this wind will really blow you away, huh?”  
She couldn’t help but giggle a little at that one, it must have been the adrenaline messing with her brain.  
They neared the big, puffy cloud and Gale looked back, “Brace yourself, it’s gonna be really cool in there, in all senses of the word!”  
Rita didn’t have time to tell him to shut up because they were suddenly in the cloud. It was like being in a deep, cold fog, she could barely see an inch in front of her, the air was like ice. She loved it. She felt powerful in here, never had she been surrounded by so much water in the air, it was amazing. She had to admit, it was pretty cool. She extended her arms and the ice crystallized around her, following in a trail as they flew up and erupted form the clouds.  
Gale looked back at the icy trail Rita had created. “Wow…”  
Rita grinned, “Cool, right?”  
He grinned right back. “Hey, Princess, that’s my shtick!”  
“Princess? You’ve been talking to Atlas, haven’t you?” Rita laughed.  
“I’ve been-” Gale stopped in shock. “What the heck!” He was looking at something in the distance, between what Rita learned were Falling Isle and Last Island there appeared to be someone gliding, trying to make it from the former to the latter. Falling Isle was the lowest and farthest of the islands, so the odds didn’t look to be in his favor. “Talon, get Rita onto land and then come for me!” Gale ordered, and without hesitation he jumped off.  
He hoped he wasn’t too slow, the kid was already falling. He knew him, Tanor, a student at the Guardian Academy, he was maybe twelve years old, and he hadn’t earned his diamond yet, what was he doing this far out? He dove as fast as he could, chasing the kid as he fell, but he’d gotten a head start. Gale neared him and reached out, Tanor saw him, tears were streaming from his face and he reached out and Gale grabbed him. He held him tightly in his arms, but it was all he could do, he couldn’t glide with another person in his arms. They hit the clouds and fell straight through, the cold rushing past them, it wasn’t nearly as awe-inspiring in this situation. They exited the clouds and Gale looked down. It took his breath away. He’d seen the land below before, but now that he knew there was more down there than he had ever realized it left him speechless. The rolling plains around him, bright green grass in every direction, limitless possibilities… Then Talon screeched and Gale was brought back to reality. His griffin dove past and Gale grabbed onto the reins, landing on Talon’s back, Tanor tucked under his arm.

“What the heck were you thinking!?” Gale demanded as he set down Tanor on Last Island to rejoin the other four Guardian trainees and Rita.  
“We- we dared Tanor to fly to Falling Isle and back!” One of the kids- Jaime- said. “We do it all the time, it’s a test of courage, nobody’s ever fell before!”  
“Get home to your parents,” Gale growled, “and if I ever see you kids around here again I will make sure you never graduate the academy! Someone could have died! Falling Isle is dangerous! Never, under any circumstances should you come this far from the Diamond without one of your own!”  
“Yes, Gale, sir!” They all exclaimed at once, bowing to him, then running off before he could chew them out any more.  
“You’re not going to tell their parents or something?” Rita asked.  
“They’re just kids being dumb,” Gale sighed. “When I was in the academy we would do the same thing. I’m not saying it was okay then, it was still dumb, but there’s no reason to get them in trouble. If I tell their parents and their parents tell the academy they could be suspended, or worse. After this I highly doubt they’ll be trying it again.”  
Rita was starting to understand why everyone in the city looked up to Gale.

The Sage sighed. “Where does Gale get off, taking both those lovely girls on a date?”  
“Master, that’s gross,” Paige frowned. “You’re just a little too old for them.”  
“A man is never too old to appreciate beauty!” He insisted.  
“Some would beg to differ,” Atlas sighed.  
The Sage grumbled. Paige rolled her eyes. She looked to Flynn, “We need more water, Flynn, help me with the buckets?”  
“Sure thing,” Flynn smiled.  
They left and Atlas returned to working on his maps, figuring out how to display a piece of the world hovering over the rest of it was proving an interesting challenge. “Atlas Pennycog,” The Sage said.  
“That is my name, yes,” Atlas said.  
The Sage sat across from him. There were no chairs in Diaem, so they were seated on the floor across the table. “I’ve noticed since you arrived… You have a darkness hanging over you. A doubt.”  
“I have a lot of darkness and a lot of doubt,” Atlas sighed, “you’ll need to be more specific.”  
“You’re worried if it was the right decision to let your brother live, and also worried about what you would have become if Flynn had let you kill him.”  
Atlas looked him in the eyes. Where had this come from? Why now? “I do, I definitely wonder, but it’s in the past.”  
“It’s not good to live with regrets. It’s important to talk about how you’re feeling,” The Sage smiled.  
Somehow he felt like the Sage was right. “If anyone deserved to die, it was my brother, and yet I let him live, but there were people much less deserving who I’ve killed. What does that make me?”  
“Human. Humans make mistakes. Here in Diaem we believe that there is no greater sin than killing your kin. There is a bond there that should never be broken, no matter what. Children whose mother dies during childbirth are considered cursed by some, those that claim they killed their kin. I am not sure I would agree on that, but I do believe that when you have resigned yourself to killing it is important to draw the line somewhere, or else risk becoming a monster like the men you seek to kill.”  
Before Atlas could form a reply Flynn and Paige returned with the water and the Sage stood. He wanted to argue, but he knew he was right. He was right, but that only made Atlas think more. About what the Sage said and what Gale had said. Was he a hero? A monster? Or was he just a human? At this point it was unclear. Maybe it was his decision to make.

“Paige wanted me to teach her some cooking from Sapphus,” Rita said, “I need to get back to the house. You coming, Fang?”  
Fang grumbled. She was sitting in the edge of the island staring down at the ground below.  
“I’ll stay with her till she wants to go back,” Gale said.  
“Okay, see you guys in a bit. Dinner should be ready soon so don’t take too long, Atlas is finally getting the hang of cooking, his part of the meal might actually be edible tonight.”  
She left and Gale and Fang were left staring off the side of the flying island. Gale sat next to fang. “Who would have thought that the kid who can manipulate the ground would always be giving me dirty looks?” Silence. “You know, we don’t need to have such a rocky relationship.” Silence. Gale laughed. “Not even a smile? You are a tough nut to crack- or should I say a tough stone?”  
Fang glared at him. “Stay away from Rita.”  
Gale smiled. “Rita’s a great girl, huh?” Fang looked down and blushed. “She’s a great friend, too. I know she’s not into me, I just like being nice to people is all. I like seeing people smile, especially cute girls, which is why I’m sad I can’t seem to get you to even crack a smile.”  
Fang’s face reddened further. “Shut up.”  
Gale grinned. “You know I can’t do that. I’ve got to keep annoying you until I get a smile out of you.” He paused. “If I ever actually make you uncomfortable, let me know, I don’t want to hurt you, but I am determined to get a chuckle out of you.”  
There was a long silence. Fang brought her knees to her chest and held them. “You keep saying I’m pretty and cute. Why do you say that?”  
“I told you, I like being nice to people,” Gale said.  
She shook her head. “No, why do you say it when it’s not true?”  
“It’s plenty true!” Gale insisted.  
“No,” Fang mumbled. “I don’t care about that stuff, I don’t make myself pretty, I’m not weak.”  
Gale frowned. “Being pretty and being weak aren’t the same thing, you know, look at Rita. And you don’t have to try to be pretty either. You might not look like Rita or Paige, but you’re a good person, and I think that’s what’s really pretty about a person. You can be pretty and strong without even trying. Rita’s like that, you should know that better than anyone.”  
She did know. When people said Fang was pretty it just made her think of Rita and how she didn’t deserve to be around her. She was pretty and strong and kind, and fang was just strong.  
“If you want me to stop, I’ll stop.”  
Fang looked at him. “I don’t care. You can say what you want.”  
Gale grinned. “Thanks, Fang, you rock.”  
She punched him in the shoulder. “But I can hit you.”  
Gale snickered, “Fair trade, I can deal with it.”

The two of them lost track of time watching the sun set, and eventually Rita, Flynn, Atlas and Paige came to find them. “Come on, guys, food’s getting cold,” Paige said.  
“Coming, dear!” Gale joked, standing and offering a hand to help Fang up. She refused, but also didn’t hit him so he counted it as a win. He looked back and noticed a griffin coming back from patrol. Something was off about it though. This wasn’t normally where guardians reported back, and the rider was slumped over. It was coming in fast, faster than it should have been. The griffin was wounded. “Move!” He ordered, jumping aside as the griffin crashed into the ground. The rider slumped off and Gale ran to him. “Ken! Ken, are you okay! Talk to me, Ken!” By now a crowd had gathered around them.  
The rider coughed, he was alive, but only barely. Without a word Rita moved to try and stop the bleeding, his leg and shoulder had been torn up by something and he had lost a lot of blood. “Warn… the elders,” he mumbled. “They’re coming… Masked men… are…”  
He lost consciousness. Gale looked to the crowd. “Someone warn the elders- now!”  
“I’ve got it!” It was Keith, a guardian, he could be trusted.  
Gale now looked to Flynn and the others, “He said masked men, do you think these are the same people who attacked Topal?”  
“How would they even have gotten here?” Flynn asked. “We’re in the sky!”  
“I think they just answered that question for us,” Atlas said gravely, pointing to the horizon. Silhouetted on the setting sun was what appeared to be a swarm of flying beasts approaching them. From far off it seemed like a cloud of mosquitoes, but as they closed in it was clear that they were giant lizards with wings, most black, others green or red, each one with a cloaked figure in a mask riding it.  
“What are those things?” Flynn asked.  
“Dragons,” Atlas said, astonished. “But I thought the Thunder Dragon was the only one of its kind…”  
“We need to stop them from getting onto the island!” Gale yelled, hoping the other guardians nearby would hear. He mounted Talon.  
“Gale, there are too many!” Paige insisted.  
“I’m not going to just sit down and do nothing while they invade my city!” Gale growled. “You guys take care of any who manage to land!”  
Gale took off and headed for them, he couldn’t even count how many there were, but it didn’t matter, he had to save his city. Other guardians were with him, not many, but he had backup. They were the guardians of Diaem, in the air they were unparalleled warriors. He drew his bow and fired an arrow, it hit the first dragon in the eye. It roared in pain but it wasn’t taken out yet. Fire erupted from its maw, he’d have to watch out for that. The dragon riders began to fire their own arrows, but Gale easily deflected them with his magic, changing their course and sending them falling uselessly to the ground far below. His next arrow hit the dragon in the neck, this time it started to fall. One down, a whole lot to go. They were getting closer, and he didn’t want to fall back, they needed to stay away from the city.   
He flew forward, firing arrows into the riders, trying to take away the dragons’ controlling force in a hope that they would panic or flee. He flew into the heart of the storm, some of the riders had swords or spears and they stabbed and slashed at him, the dragons bit and clawed and breathed their fiery breath at him, but he knew Talon could outmaneuver them all. He was zipping through, narrowly avoiding their attacks and firing arrows into anything he could hit. He saw his comrades fighting, some fell, Richard took and arrow to the chest, Phil had an arm cut off by what appeared to be a tentacle of darkness, his men were dying. He reached into his quiver and realized he was out of arrows. He had to rely on magic now. He sent out a massive shockwave, knocking dragons back, some even spun out, falling, trying to recover. One rider stabbed at him with his spear, Gale dodged, grabbed the shaft of the spear with one hand and sent the rider flying with a powerful burst of wind from his other hand. He the used the spear to stab the next rider coming after him in the throat. It seemed like the battle would never end, he was covered in the blood of dragons and men alike- were they even humans? But just as suddenly as the battle had began it seemed to end. He looked around and realized he was alone in the sky. His allies were dead or had ran, and the enemies had passed him. He cursed himself as he saw the bulk of the horde descending on Diaem. He had failed. He had killed so many, tried so hard, but it wasn’t enough, no matter how many he took down the horde didn’t seem to dwindle.

The first dragon to reach Diaem shot fire from its mouth at them, Flynn raised his arms and the fire shot to the sides, burning the grass, but missing anything with flesh. Fang jumped and grabbed the dragon by the neck, swung it around and slammed it into the ground on its back, the sound of the rider’s bones being crushed under the weight of its mount tore through the air like a battle cry. Atlas shot a bolt of lightning into the wing of the next dragon, it flailed wildly and fell just short of the island. As the main group closed in Rita raised her arms, concentrating, and just as they approached thousands of spears of ice rose from below the city, and entire cloud turned into a weapon, tearing through flesh and scales, dragons fell, but still more approached. As they landed Fang and Flynn got to work fighting them off, killing as many as they could before they got into the city proper.  
Eventually Gale rejoined them, he was a bloody mess, tired and worn, Talon even more so. “How many got through!?” Gale demanded.  
“Too many,” Atlas growled, shooting a dragon. “We haven’t let any pass here, but they’re landing all over the island, we can’t stop them all!”  
“Well we have to!” Gale yelled.   
“Gale, calm down!” Rita ordered.  
“You’re right,” Gale said, taking a deep breath, “I can’t help anyone if I lose my mind. Where is Paige?”  
“The elders sent word that all children were to go to the Guardian Academy, Paige went with the kids around here to keep them safe,” Flynn said.  
“I’m going to the Academy,” Gale said, “I need to make sure she’s safe, and protect the kids.”  
“We’re coming with you,” Flynn insisted.  
“I need you protecting this area,” Gale said.  
“In case you haven’t noticed,” Rita panted, “we’ve killed all the masked men here.”  
Gale looked around and realized she was right. No more were approaching, they had all landed, and all the ones who landed here were killed. “Okay, yeah, let’s go.”

Flynn had visited the Guardian Academy before, but it wasn’t like this. Children were huddled, crying, everyone was terrified. Gale refilled his arrows and they met with Paige. She seemed to be the oldest person here, anyone of fighting age was out protecting the city. “Gale, I’m so glad you’re okay!” She said, hugging him.  
“Yeah, but people are still dying out there,” Gale said through clenched teeth. “We can’t just sit around and wait for them to attack us. They haven’t gotten this far in yet, but they will, and we need to be ready.”  
“What do you mean?” Paige frowned.  
“This is a training academy for guardians, right?” Atlas said. “Just because these kids haven’t graduated doesn’t mean they can’t fight.”  
“That’s ridiculous, you can’t send children to their deaths!” Paige yelled.  
“Paige, you know I hate the idea too!” Gale hissed, “but we’re running out of options! The guardians are dong their best, but there are only so many! Some of these kids are going to graduate in less than a month! They’re ready! If we can add another thirty or so guardian level warriors to our side we might have a chance! Right now innocent people are dying out there, civilians who have never had to fight before. it’s the duty of the guardians to protect them.”  
Paige shook her head. “Fine… But they’re scared, it will take some serious convincing.”  
Gale looked at all the kids, some only babies, others almost as old as them. They were in the auditorium, the largest room in the academy. Gale and the others got onto the stage and Gale whistled to get everyone’s attention. “Guardians!” His voice echoed through the room. “Some of you are almost old enough to call yourselves that. All you have left is to graduate. Right now our home is being attacked! People are killing our friends and families! We are Guardians! It is our job to protect them! As a Guardian I will not stand idly by while my city is burned to ashes and everyone I know is killed! I know you have yet to earn your Diamonds, but you have been trained in the way of the Guardian! You know what you stand for! I know all of you! If you would stand by me and fight against these monsters that would attack us in our home, stand up!” There was a murmur from the crowd, some stood, but not enough. He needed something more. These kids were scared, he needed to give them hope. “I know you’re scared! So am I, I’m scared as Hell! But if you want to call yourself a Guardian you need to be brave in spite of that! If we fight we can win! We can save our city! Bravery is not the absence of fear, but rather…” crap. He was blanking.  
“Hitting the thing you’re afraid of until it fears you!” Everyone looked at Fang. She shrugged. “It’s what I do.”  
Gale laughed. “Better than anything I could have come up with.” He looked back to the crowd. “So those of you who would fight with me, stand up! We may fear them, but we need to prove to them that us, the Guardians of Diaem, the protectors of the Diamond are the ones they should fear!” The crowd rose and cheered, would-be guardians coming forward to join them.

“Our first goal is to get to our griffin coops,” Gale told them all once they were armed and ready to move out, “once we’re in the air we can sweep the city and take out any of these masked bastards we see.”  
Gale lead the small army out of the academy, Atlas followed. He noticed the boy next to him was shaking, not surprising, he was still little more than a child. He reached over and grabbed his wrist, stopping his hand trembling. The boy looked at him, wide-eyed. “You’re scared,” Atlas stated.  
“I-I am,” the boy stuttered, “but I’ll be brave, just like Gale said!”  
Atlas smiled. “Don’t lose that fear, though. Fear is good, it keeps you alive. When you’re scared you move faster, hit harder, think faster, being afraid is our greatest asset here. They have the disadvantage because they’re not afraid of us, we need to show them they should be, because nothing is more terrifying than a cornered animal.” The boy gave him a determined look and nodded. Good. Anyone who wasn’t terrified right now was either an idiot or Fang.  
It wasn’t long before they ran into resistance, a small group of masked men, up close Atlas could now see they were wearing bird masks, some hawks, others owls, all white as death. “Guardians, stay back! Fire if you have a shot but let us handle the groundwork, you guys focus on staying alive and getting into the air!” Gale ordered.  
Atlas drew his pistols- he had taken to using the redesigned pistol he’d stolen from his brother in addition to the older one- when Gale said ‘us’ he was sure he was included. Atlas had shattered two of their masks via shots in the head before they could even draw their weapons. Gale had shot three in the chest before Flynn and Fang could close in, and once they reached them it was a massacre. Rita stood by on defense, blocking any arrows or shadows headed their way with walls of ice. Atlas was amazed to see how far Flynn had come since they’d first met, he was no awkward, half-trained would-be knight anymore. His knight training mingled with what he had learned sparring with Fang, he was easily dodging any attack sent his way and cut down opponents without hesitation.   
“Are you sure it was okay to leave Paige to defend the kids by herself?” Rita asked Gale once the battle was finished. “These guys aren’t exactly pushovers.”  
Gale laughed. “Trust me, Paige will be fine, she has better odds of survival than all of us put together.”

The army approached and Paige breathed in deeply, feeling the air coursing through her with the energy of the Diamond. There were a lot of them, they were likely headed for the Diamond and this was one of the most direct routes. How many people had they killed to get here?  
She stood alone in front of the Guardian Academy, she was scared, sure, but she wasn’t worried. They raised their bows and a rain of arrows fell on her. She raised her arms and a huge blast of air sent them all flying back. Some arrows hit targets, while the rest of the masked men were blown back, falling down. As they got up she saw a dragon still in the air approaching her, she slammed it to the ground with a blast of wind and it crushed a few foes beneath its weight. She needed to end this battle before they recovered. She conjured a massive cyclone, it tore into the masked men, lifting them and slamming them into the surrounding buildings hard enough to splatter them into little more than a red mist. Some were ejected, flying far off, they certainly wouldn’t survive. Once the storm dispersed all her enemies were gone. It was only a matter of time before more came, but she would be ready.

The Guardian griffin coops weren’t far, near the pasture their mounts were held at. Flynn and the others mounted up and rejoined with Gale as he got the last of his kids in the air. “We’re heading into the sky to finish this fight,” Gale said, “I need you guys to get to the Diamond, make sure it’s safe, if the Diamond falls then we’re all done for.”  
“Got it,” Atlas nodded, “stay safe, don’t do anything stupid.”  
Gale grinned. “Now you’re just suggesting the impossible.” He looked up at the griffins circling above, waiting for him. “I’m not going to lose a single one of these kids, we’ve lost too many already.” He took a deep breath and Talon took flight.

It wasn’t much farther to the Diamond, and there was little resistance, it seemed not many had made it this far yet. Any masked men they did run into Flynn was more than happy to cut down. Between the attack on Topal and this he knew it couldn’t be a coincidence, and they had something to do with the man who killed Damun, he knew they had to. He had questions for these people, but the first priority was saving the city.  
It was quiet around the Diamond, and upon entering the tower they were immediately greeted by the strong scent of blood in the air. Blood splattered the walls and the floor was covered in the corpses of the invaders. The Sage sat before the Diamond, concentrating, muttering to it. Flynn approached. “Sage, are you okay? All these men-”  
“I can take care of myself,” The Sage assured. “As can the Diamond, only a little longer, young ones.”  
“What are you talking about?” Atlas asked.  
“More are coming, keep them out, I need to concentrate,” the Sage ordered.  
Flynn ran outside and sure enough more masked men approached. There were a lot of them, possibly too many, it must have been the bulk of what was left of them. He drew his sword without hesitation and ran forward. They were strong but he and his friends were stronger. He cut through one, dodged an attack, slid his hand under a mask and burned the face beneath. He slew another and another and another, his blood was pumping, the magic coursed through him, he felt strong, fast, he felt like fire itself. A sword came down and bit into his shoulder but he barely felt a thing, steam rose from the wound and once the sword came away it began to close itself. He scarcely noticed, simply turned and stabbed his assailant in the throat.   
He looked for another enemy and suddenly there was a pulse- a shockwave- all of the masked men and their dragons were sent flying, ones that hit buildings were turned to paste while others were sent high into the air. Flynn and the others were untouched by the sudden gust. He looked back and saw the Sage exit the tower, he was panting, holding the archway to keep himself up.  
Flynn ran to his side and he and Rita helped support the Sage. “Are you alright?” He asked. “What was that just now?”  
“I’m fine,” The Sage smiled. “That was the Diamond. I began the purge, it will eliminate the invaders while leaving anyone who is meant to be here unharmed. It will not kill every single one of these masked men but it will dwindle their numbers to something we can manage.” Another pulse was sent out. “Please, help clear the streets, I must rest but I can handle myself here, don’t worry about me.”  
Flynn nodded and he and Rita sat the Sage down before the Diamond.

By the first light of morning it seemed that every masked man had been dealt with, they had taken serious casualties but they had won. It seemed the masked men would rather die than be captured, as many took their own lives when it was clear they would lose. They did manage to catch one alive and he was brought to the elders.  
“Good to see you’re still alive,” Rita said as Gale and Paige found them on the streets.  
“I’m tough to kill,” Gale laughed. “Didn’t lose a single kid, either, at least I can take solace in that. They fought well.”  
Atlas chuckled. “They were scared.”  
“Anyway,” Gale said, “the Elders want to see you, we should head over to them.”  
“I can’t imagine why,” Atlas sighed.

“Was this your doing?” The Elder wasted no time in getting to the point.  
“You would think that killing dozens of these guys would prove that we hate them just as much as you guys but it never does,” Atlas groaned.  
“They invaded shortly after your arrival, while I do not want to accuse you, it is clear that the possibility is there,” The Elder explained.  
“We’ve run into them before,” Flynn said. “We mentioned in our story that they attacked Topal and a man in a similar white mask killed my… mentor.”  
The Elder nodded. “For now we will take your word on that, you were invaluable assets against them. Our next order of business is to find out why they are attacking cities. Bring out the prisoner.”  
Two Guardians dragged out the prisoner. He was still in his robes but his mask had been removed. He had shaggy black hair and skin even darker than Flynn or the other people of the Ruban region. His eyes were grey and despite being a captive he was grinning. Flynn approached, it seemed the Elders would not stop him from asking his questions. “Who are you?”  
He looked him in the eyes. “A soldier.”  
Flynn grabbed his collar, fire was bubbling inside him, he could feel flames flickering in his throat. “Why are you here!? What do you people want!”  
He laughed. “What do we want? To destroy your pretty little stones, boy! You are slaves to them and we seek to free you!”  
Destroy the stones? If the stones were destroyed magic would be gone, this city would fall. Their way of life would be destroyed as well! Flynn threw him to the ground and stepped on his neck, fire was streaming from his lips now, though only a little. This was the real question. “Who is the man in the faceless mask! Where can I find him!”  
The man simply spit on his boot. Flynn drew his sword, Atlas grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. “Down, boy!” He smacked Flynn in the back of the head and his mind seemed to clear. The flames dispersed and he sheathed his sword.  
“Sorry, I got… carried away.”  
“No worries,” Atlas smiled, “it’s why we have a team, you don’t have to go it alone. Tag out, now it’s my turn.” Flynn nodded and returned to the others. The prisoner was on his knees again. Atlas looked him over. He’d never seen skin, hair or eyes that color. Upon closer inspection something seemed off about his ears. The tops of them were scarred, part of the top ridge of both ears was missing, replaced by scar tissue. Atlas reached to try and touch it and the prisoner flinched away. “What’s up with your ears, buddy?”  
“We go through much for our mission,” He hissed, “physical pain is but a stepping stone to our goal.”  
“Your goal,” Atlas nodded, “destroying the stones, right. You seem to have failed there, twice by my count. Looks like you’re losing this one.”  
“This is only the beginning.”  
“Ah, there we go,” Atlas grinned, “so then what’s the endgame?”  
The prisoner glared. “Slaves of the stones have no need to know what we’re doing.”  
Atlas shrugged. “Ah well, if I can’t get it out of you then maybe my friend Fang can.”  
Fang knew her cue, she started forward, the prisoner looked her in the eyes and Atlas could almost see the shiver run down his spine. “fine, I suppose even if you know, it won’t do you any good,” he spat. “The stones cannot be destroyed by normal means, we have learned.” he began to laugh. “You’re too late, I’m sure our men have already retrieved what we need from the desert, you’re all doomed! Your stones will fall!” He laughed hysterically. Suddenly he lunged forward, trying to bite Atlas. Atlas stepped back but the Guardians watching readied their spears and grabbed him. He pulled himself up and impaled himself on the spear pointed at him. He looked at Atlas, blood leaking from his mouth. “Your stones will fall, children.” He fell dead.  
The Elder motioned for the Guardians to take him away. “Well that was certainly… Interesting.  
“If what he said is true,” Atlas said, “we need to move fast, we need to find whatever it is they’re looking for before they do.”  
“He mentioned a desert,” Flynn said, “Ruban id built just north of a desert, I imagine that’s where they mean.”  
“I agree,” Atlas nodded, “Elders, I ask that you send out your Guardians to find whatever this thing in the desert is.”  
The Elder shook his head. “We’ve taken a blow, we need to focus on rebuilding, our city is in tatters.”  
Atlas wanted to retort but he knew he wouldn’t get anywhere, the Elder wasn’t wrong. “Send me,” Gale said, stepping forward.  
“What?” Paige said.  
“One Guardian won’t make such a difference in your rebuilding efforts. You can spare me. Send me with them.”  
“As a Guardian your duty is here, Gale,” The Elder said.  
“My duty is to protect my city,” Gale said, “the way I see it finding whatever this thing is and beating these masked bastards to the punch is the best way to do that.”  
The Elder looked at him. “Very well. You are given leave to join them. You will be the first Diaem citizen in a long, long time to set foot on the surface, do us proud, Gale Stormwind.”  
“Thank you, Elders,” gale bowed deeply.

“You’re insane, Gale,” Paige sighed. “This city will fall apart without you.”  
Gale laughed, “You give me too much credit, you guys will be fine.”  
Paige rolled her eyes. “Hopefully. Here’s to hoping you even have a city to come back to.” She hugged him. “I’ve gotta go make sure the Sage is okay, come see us before you run off, okay?”  
“No problem.” She left, Gale turned to Atlas and the others. They were just outside the Elders’ building. “So, when we headed out, team?”  
“I’m hoping to pack up and leave by tomorrow at the latest,” Atlas said. He looked at Gale. “We never agreed to take you with us, though.”  
Gale frowned. “You’re going up against some crazy, unknown odds, you can use all the help you can get.” Gale grinned. “Besides, you’ve collected a kid from every other city, once you snag me you’ll have a full set. You seem like the completionist type to me.”  
Atlas couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head. “Fine, I’m okay with it as long as everyone else is.”  
“Of course,” Flynn smiled.  
“He has his uses,” Rita laughed.  
“As long as he brings the griffin,” Fang mumbled.  
“And one condition,” Atlas said, “you leave your crappy jokes behind.”  
Gale grinned. “No problem, because all my comedy is pure gold.”  
This would be a long journey.

“I’m a little jealous,” Paige sighed as Gale finished packing his things. “You get to go out on adventures and I’m stuck here fixing the city.”  
“You could always come with me,” Gale smiled.  
She laughed. “I would if I could, you know I need to be here.” She paused. “People really will be lost without you. I’ll be lost without you.”  
He put his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll be back in no time. We’ll go kick these masked guys’ butts and I’ll be home in time for Storm’s Day.”  
She smiled. “I’m holding you to that.” She hugged him tightly. “Come back alive, you big idiot.”  
He hugged back. She always smelled nice, like fresh air and flowers. “I’ll always come back.”  
He left the room before she started crying, he always hated when she cried. The Sage was waiting for him at the door. “Off to save the world, then?” the old man smiled.  
Gale grinned. “Something like that, or at least have some fun and meet some cute girls along the way.”  
“I’ll expect detailed descriptions of both,” The Sage chuckled. He stopped and looked Gale in the eyes with pride and admiration. “I’ve always known you were destined for greatness. This is your destiny, Gale, live it well. Do your parents proud, they would love to have seen the man you have become.”  
Gale shook his head. “I’ll do you proud. Thank you, for everything.”

“Ready to go?” Atlas asked as Gale boarded the airship.  
“As I’ll ever be,” Gale said, “I’ve said my goodbyes.”  
“And the Elders cleared us to go,” Atlas said. “Fang made sure all mounts are accounted for, let’s head to the desert!”  
The ship roared to life as Atlas pumped his magic into it. It rose into the air and headed forward, away from the only home Gale had ever known. It broke past the Diamond’s influence and Gale looked out the window. He saw the view once again, the seemingly endless plains, the infinite possibilities. He smiled. “This is far out, huh? Not to mention far up.”  
Everyone groaned. “I’m already starting to regret this,” Atlas sighed.  
Gale laughed. He was happy to have a team like this. A group of people he could call friends.


	18. Beast of the Ruby City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flynn and the others stop at Ruban on their way to the desert

Chapter 18: Beast of the Ruby City

No matter how much he thought about it Atlas couldn’t form a proper idea of what the masked men really were. After the battle they had recovered the bodies, not all of them were dark-skinned like the one they had interrogated, some were pale with blue or green eyes and black hair. Without exception every single one of the dark-skinned corpses had the same scars on their ears while the pale ones had huge scars on their backs. All of that aside what was this magic they used? Where had they gotten so many dragons? How could they use magic at all without stones? He had so many questions and no one to ask anymore.  
“Still thinking about Diaem?” Gale asked, approaching Atlas in the cockpit. It had been a few weeks since they’d left but it was still on all of their minds.  
“Aren’t you?” Atlas replied, “it’s your home, you’re surprisingly calm.”  
“Don’t get me wrong,” Gale sighed, “I’m mortified at how many people died, and furious at those masked men for what they did, but me freaking out isn’t going to help anyone. Until I can actually do something about it I think it’s a better idea to keep smiling and help bring the mood up, Diamond knows you guys need it.”  
Gale wasn’t wrong, he had brought their mood up, ever since leaving Sapphus it seemed they were always cranky and didn’t quite fit together, but these past few weeks Gale had been with them everything seemed… smoother somehow. They were all cogs in a machine that just weren’t turning right and he was the cog that made it all work. He got along with everyone, even Atlas had grown fond of him when he wasn’t making bad jokes. He was always there to make you laugh or smile, it was an odd thing after all this time of just trying to stay alive.  
Atlas looked down and saw that Ruban was in view before them, and just past that was the vast, seemingly endless desert. “Gale, could you get Flynn, he’ll want to see this.”  
“Aye aye, chief,” Gale smiled as he turned to leave.

It looked different somehow. Those bright green fields Flynn had seen when he’d left with Damun seemed almost yellow now. Had he just not known what green really was? It paled in comparison to the fields below Diaem or the forests around Emerala. The tan buildings made from dirt and sand and brick were drab in comparison to the gorgeous ice houses of Sapphus or the neatly organized homes of Topal.  
“We need to stop at Ruban,” Flynn said. “We should warn them of the masked men.”  
Atlas nodded. “I was going to suggest as much, we need to gather supplies. Also…” he trailed off.  
“What’s wrong?” Rita asked.  
Atlas sighed. “I’m not sure we can fly this into the desert, the zeppelin has been acting funny since we’ve been heading south, I don’t think it works well in the heat. I’ve been doing adjustments to try and compensate as best as possible but without my brother’s designs there isn’t much more I can do. We’re probably better off heading into the desert on foot.”  
“I agree,” Fang said quickly.  
“Might take a little longer,” Gale said, “but better than crashing and burning, right? Fine by me.”  
“Let’s just hope that Ruban will keep it safe for us,” Atlas chuckled. He looked at Flynn. “You think they’ll listen to us if you warn them? You were just a street rat, from my understanding they won’t much care.”  
“I’m not sure,” Flynn frowned, “but we have to try.”

They landed the zeppelin in front of Ruban and two guardians and three knights had their swords at the ready to greet them.  
“Who are you! State your business!” one of the guardians demanded.  
Flynn raised his arms, showing his ruby. “Flynn Fleischer, I left Ruban with Damun, a Guardian, over a year ago, these are my friends. And the flying machine is from Topal, one of the other cities.”  
The guardians frowned. “Damun, yes, he never came back, I seem to remember he took a street rat with him. I assume that would be you. Where is he? Why do you have his ruby and his sword?”  
Flynn frowned. “He was slain by a masked man, he left his ruby and sword to me. We are hunting those masked men and we have reason to believe that they may attack here if they haven’t already. They’ve attacked two other cities already, I ask that you let me speak with someone in power, we need to warn them.”  
“You’re well spoken for a street rat,” the guardian observed. “These are some bold claims you make… You’ve already got a ruby so I suppose we can let you in. We’ll escort you to the Magister Court, they will know what to do with you.”  
Flynn bowed. “Thank you.”

The slums brought back memories, mostly bad ones. People were still starving, dying in the streets. Unlike other cities there were no settlements just outside the walls, any people that came from outside the wall seeking refuge were shoved into the lower ring and forgotten about. He tried not to think about it too much, he wanted to change things but he didn’t have the time right now, they had a job to do, they couldn’t get distracted.  
When the gates opened on the middle ring Flynn felt his heart skip a beat. He’d seen more amazing things, sure, but he’d dreamed about being admitted to the middle ring his whole life, and a part of that naïve kid was still alive inside him. The buildings were nicer, there were more shops and everyone seemed to have a place to go, no one was dirty and there weren’t corpses in the streets, but aside from that it was honestly underwhelming. There were blacksmiths breathing fire on their swords and armor to heat it up and people cooking using magic, but after seeing the ice dancers and people gliding like birds in Diaem he found it hard to be impressed.  
They were lead to a building built into the wall connecting the middle and upper rings that held the Magister Court. They were the council that dealt with the issues of the Middle and Lower rings that the King couldn’t bother with. The council room was far different from the modesty of the Diaem council or even the subtle dominance of the Topal courtroom. There was no subtlety here, they wanted you to feel small and weak. The Magisters sat in a circle around you, each seated in a balcony recessed in the wall fifteen feet or so up. Sheer red and orange curtains blocked them so that all that could be seen were silhouettes as they looked down on you.  
“Flynn Fleischer,” one of the Magisters said- he couldn’t tell which one- “a street rat leaves with a guardian and returns over a year later with a ruby and children from all around the world. Curious, truly curious. We hear you have a warning for us?”  
“Yes, magister,” Flynn said, bowing, “my friends and I have had multiple battles with mysterious masked men, they use magic like none of us had ever seen. It was one of their ranks that killed Damun and they have attacked two cities already. I wanted to warn you that they will likely attack Ruban next, they are searching for something in the desert.”  
“And what is it they are searching for, boy?”  
“We do not know,” Flynn admitted, “it’s why we came here. We’re trying to find whatever it is before they do. They want to destroy the stones and whatever it is they’re looking for will help them in that.”  
“Destroy the stones? Quite a task they have before them. You plan to brave the desert that no guardian has ever survived?”  
“We plan to try,” Flynn nodded. “We would accept aid if you could spare the guardians.”  
“If your claims are true, which is still in question, then we must have all of our guardians present to defend our city, we cannot send them on a suicide mission to chase a poorly constructed myth.”  
Flynn bowed. “I understand, Magisters. I’ve done my duty, may we have leave to gather supplies and head to the desert?”  
“Of course,” The magister said, “as soon as you hand over your ruby you may be on your way.”  
Flynn looked up, shocked. He shouldn’t have been, he should have seen this coming, but he hadn’t thought that they would want it back. “I’m sorry?”  
“The ruby is not yours, we will repurpose it to a true guardian that can use it properly.”  
“Flynn is more than capable of using the ruby properly!” Atlas growled, ready to draw his pistol. Gale’s hand twitched towards his bow, too, but Flynn held out his arm. This was his fight.  
“With all due respect, Damun left the stone for me, it is a part of me now, I will not relinquish it, I need it to fight the masked men.”  
“Only guardians may hold rubies, you know that, boy. We will not send a ruby with a street rat to be lost forever in the desert.”  
“Then make me a guardian.”  
There was a long silence. “Becoming a guardian takes years of training, and no street rat has ever become a guardian in the history of our city.”  
“There’s a first time for everything,” Flynn smiled. Rita taught him that. “Give me whatever test it is the guardians take, let me prove I’m worthy of a ruby.”  
Another long silence. Were they deliberating? It seemed to last forever. Finally one of them spoke. “Very well. We will give you a test. Not the true guardian test but one that will suffice, nonetheless. If you should pass we will permit you to keep the ruby. You shall be sent at once.”  
Flynn could hear them say ‘you’ll probably die’ though it never escaped their mouths. “Are you insane, Flynn?” Atlas whispered as guardians lead them off. “You have no idea what they’re sending you to do, you could die!”  
“Have some faith in me, Atlas,” Flynn grinned.  
Fang nodded. “Flynn is strong. He’ll survive.”  
“This is where you part ways,” one of the guardians said. They had walked down some stairs and hallways but they hadn’t made it far. Wherever they were it was still on the wall.  
“Good luck, Flynn,” Rita said, patting him on the shoulder.  
“Can’t wait to have a fellow guardian on the team, I’ll get us team patches or something,” Gale smiled, holding out his fist. Flynn touched his own fist to it and smiled back.  
“Flynn,” Atlas bit his lip.  
“Next time you see me I’ll be a real Guardian,” Flynn said. “See you on the other side.”

Flynn was lead down a dark pathway, it smelled strongly of blood. Eventually he began to hear what sounded like cheering, and then he could see a light at the end of the tunnel. He was stood before a barred gate, all he could see past it was stairs leading up. “Kill everything that tries to kill you, if you survive you win,” the guardian said as he unlocked the gate.  
Flynn stepped though the gate and ascended the stairs. The bright sun burned his eyes after the dark tunnel, his nostrils filled with the stench of stale blood, he couldn’t hear anything over the sounds of cheers. He looked around and saw that he was in a large arena of some sort. It was a circular dirt field, a few bodies scattered on the sand. Around it was a tall wall, and on the wall sat countless people, cheering, watching. Above them he saw the same balconies the Magisters had sat in. They were watching, too. He looked around the crowd, it was easy to find his friends, four dots of yellow, green, blue and white in a sea of red and orange. The gate he had come from was far from the only one, there were nine or so more all around.  
He heard a creak and one of the gates opened. He turned just in time to see a pack of five wolves running at him. Ironic, the first thing he’d ever tried to fight after leaving Ruban. He’d lost horribly and Damun had been hurt. This time things went differently. Wolves were easy, he’d fought men that defied logic, a little fire and some quick cuts and the wolves were dealt with. The crowd cheered. People watched this? Why would people watch someone kill animals? It was brutal.  
Another gate opened, this time three huge boars rushed at him. He dodged as the first one charged and slid his sword into its belly, letting its own momentum do the hard part, goring itself. The other two flanked him. They both charged, he shot a quick burst of flames into the eyes of one and jumped over it, rolling off its back. It was blinded from the fire and slammed into the other boar, its tusk catching in the neck of the other. They struggled violently and eventually ended up killing each other. Flynn took a deep breath. It wasn’t too tough so far.  
A third gate now, four Pyromanders emerged. One shot flames from its mouth at him, without hesitation he ran straight through them, parting the flames, he jabbed his sword through them and down the Pyromander’s throat. He slid it to the side, tearing through flesh an bone and caught the second Pyromander as it lunged at him, impaling its chest with his sword. The Pyromander behind him jumped at him- his sword was caught- he turned and kicked it in the chest, knocking it back. As the other one tried to bite him he finally managed to free his sword, dodging just in time. He drove his sword down into the top of its head and turned just as the last one was regaining its footing. Fire glowed in its mouth, but he was too quick, slicing its head clean off before the flames could leave its throat.  
Another gate opened- how long would this go on? He was starting to get tired. A Tiphant emerged. He couldn’t help but chuckled to himself. Had they known? The Wolves, the Pyromanders and now the Tiphant? He remembered being in awe as he saw Damun take out the Tiphant on that first day, it seemed so long ago now. The Tiphant swiped, he dodged to the side. It lunged, he jumped back. It slammed down its trunk at him, he sidestepped and grabbed it with his free arm. He pulled, it was heavy, so freaking heavy, was this the kind of thing Fang did every day? It lurched forward and he slid his sword into its eye, straight through, burying it to the hilt. The Tiphant screamed and Flynn channeled flame down his sword, frying its insides just to be safe. Once it stopped moving he pulled his sword out and sighed. He hoped that was it, this was getting silly.  
Another gate. Great. Someone spoke now- and announcer? Had he always been talking? Flynn couldn’t tell, he’d been to focused on survival. “Looks like the street rat has made it to the final round! The last beast! Let’s hear it for the Beast!”  
This cheer was huge, what was he about to fight? What came out of the gate was far from he expected. Not a beast, but a man. A man? Or was it a kid like him? He was taller, lean but muscular, it seemed there was no wasted flesh on him, pure power. He wore tattered tan slacks but no shirt. On his right wrist was an iron shackle with a ruby embedded in it. He walked with a teetering menace, like he was just wandering towards his next kill. He looked at Flynn with wild red eyes full of fire and hate, and a wicked smile that reminded him of Fang when she was in the midst of a good fight. He had short red hair and his face and body were covered in scars, he may have been handsome if he weren’t so filthy and scarred as he was. He licked his lips and flexed his fingers, which were tipped with claw-like nails.  
Flynn didn’t even have time to react when he attacked. He rushed forward and slammed the heel of his hand into Flynn’s stomach. It knocked the wind out of him and sent him rolling across the dirt. He coughed and got to his feet as the beast attacked again, this time he barely dodged in time. He was toying with him, he could have clawed his guts out, but he chose to just hit him instead.  
“Who are you?” Flynn asked. He didn’t want to hurt him.  
He grinned. “Didn’t you hear him? I’m the Beast!”  
He slashed at him and Flynn dodged again. “I’ve seen shackles like that before, are you a slave?”  
“Gladiator!” The Beast growled.  
“You choose to do this?”  
“They make me, yeah, but I like it! I get to kill whenever, so it’s fine!”  
“We could help you get out, if you want!”  
“No thanks, I like it here.”  
Flynn landed a hit on his shoulder, though it didn’t seem to faze him. “How did you end up as a Gladiator? You still seem so young.”  
“They found me in a gutter. Said I had strong bones, trained me since I was little. No one wanted to teach me to use a weapon ’cause I would bite. Still do.” He grabbed Flynn and sunk his teeth into his shoulder- was this payback? It hurt a hell of a lot more than his slash had seemed to. Flynn sent flames from his body and the Beast jumped back. Flynn tried to heal himself like he had in Diaem but he couldn’t seem to get it right, instead the wounds just burned and stopped bleeding. Luckily it wasn’t his sword arm.  
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Flynn said, “I don’t think you’re a bad guy.”  
The Beast looked confused. “Why do you say that? I kill people and I like it, of course I’m a bad guy.”  
“You remind me of a friend of mine, and she’s a good person, I have a feeling you are too.”  
“I’m not good, I’m hate and fire and blood.”  
“Hate? Hate for what?”  
“Everything. Hate makes the fire burn, you’ve felt it too, I know, I can tell. Let it consume you, let it feed on your hate, and you bring more and more and it feeds and feeds and grows and burns and everything turns to ash!” He was laughing now. Flynn understood what he was saying. He remembered all the times his flames had flared up, when he was filled with hatred for someone, like he lost control of the raging flames within him.  
Flynn felt a cold drop on his nose and he was brought back to reality. It had started to rain. “How long have you been doing this?” he asked.  
Beast charged and Flynn landed a slash into his chest, though there was little effect. “Ten years, first time was when I was five. They sent me against animals, that’s how I got the name. Not a name, a title. I don’t have a name. I’m the king of the beasts.”  
“And you’re happy here?” Flynn narrowly dodged another attack, “No name, nothing to call your own? Just death and danger every day?”  
“It’s only dangerous if you think you might lose!” Beast grinned. He ducked under one of Flynn’s strikes and kicked him in the stomach- why did he keep going for the guts?  
Flynn landed hard, rolling along the wet ground, the rain seemed to try and hold him down as he got to his feet. Beast had a fire in his eyes, his skin was steaming as the rain sizzled off it. Steam, of course! Beast ran at him and Flynn flared the air around him, the rain in the air and the ground turned to steam, blinding the Beast. He stumbled back, startled, and Flynn ran into hiding. He and Rita had used that trick before in Topal, though it was Atlas’s idea, he was glad it had worked.  
He was hiding behind the corpse of the Tiphant, he tried to measure his breathing so Beast wouldn’t hear. “Hiding?” the Beast growled. “I can still smell you, you know. You can’t hide from me, coward!” He couldn’t, Flynn was sure of it, Fang complained that the rain muffled her senses, he doubted the Beast could smell him through it if Fang couldn’t. “You were so quick to talk before, why so quiet now!?” He could tell the Beast was mad. That was good, mad meant he would make mistakes.  
He heard the Beast getting closer, sniffing at the air. He was right there, right on the other side of the body. It was now or never. Flynn slid his sword under the Tiphant body and slid it upward with as much strength as he could muster, cutting the corpse in half and catching the Beast with the tip of the sword. It was just to the right of his center, slicing through his right thigh, up his chest and over his right eye. The Beast howled in pain and recoiled, Flynn leapt forward, driving his sword into the Beast’s shoulder. The Beast Grabbed his sword-arm by the wrist and held tight. He brought up his knee and hit Flynn hard in the chin.  
“You really remind me a lot of my friend,” Flynn panted, “but there’s one big difference between you two,” Flynn grabbed the Beast by the back of the head and slammed their foreheads together- it hurt, but Flynn had a hard head. “She hit’s a hell of a lot harder!” The Beast lost is grip on Flynn and he pulled back, kicking the Beast in the abdomen to pull his sword out. He swept the Beast’s legs from under him and slammed his foot onto his chest as he hit the ground. He put his blade to his throat.  
The Beast laughed. “Well fought, for a street rat.”  
Flynn smiled. “So says the glorified slave.”  
“Finish the job, rat.”  
“I have a name. It’s Flynn.”  
“Kill me, Flynn. You won.”  
Flynn shook his head. “I won’t do that. I did win, there’s no reason for you to die.”  
The crowd seemed furious. “I lost, I deserve to die!” the Beast growled.  
“I don’t murder people I don’t have to!” Flynn spat back. He thought of the masked men killing indiscriminately, he would never become them. He looked at the audience, at the Magisters seated above. “I won!” He announced. “Let’s end it here before anyone else loses their life! There is a very real threat on the horizon, we should be preparing ourselves, not killing each other!” There was a murmur from the crowd. “Besides,” Flynn grinned, “this is a one-time deal for me, if I kill him you lose one of your favorite Gladiators.”  
There was a long pause before the announcer spoke, he had been waiting for word from the Magisters, it seemed. “The challenger has been deemed victorious! A cheer for Ruban’s newest Guardian, Flynn Fleischer!”  
The crowd erupted into cheer, he could hear his friends over them all. He stepped off the Beast and lent him a hand. The Beast ignored it and stood himself. “You had no right to let me live. But… Thank you.”  
“We could still help you escape, if you wanted. You’re strong, you could come with us.”  
He shook his head. “I told you before, I like it here. Besides, if I ever wanted to escape I could, not like my guards would stand a chance against me anyway.” He wiped the blood from his eye. “I’ll have a few scars to remember you by from this.”  
Flynn laughed. “I wouldn’t want you to go forgetting me. Stay alive, Beast.”  
“The Beast. It’s a title.’  
Flynn patted him on the back. “Beast. it’s a name. You deserve one.”  
“You’re odd,” Beast chuckled.  
"Hot damn, man," Gale said, patting Flynn hard on the back once they were reunited, "you were on fire out there!"  
"Gale's bad puns aside, you really kicked ass out there," Atlas grinned, giving Flynn a fist bump.  
Flynn laughed. "I couldn't have done it without you guys, I learned half of that from you."  
Rita nodded. "Atlas is very good at hiding while a battle is happening."  
"Oh, bite me, Frosty," Atlas smirked, rolling his eyes. Rita snickered. Flynn was glad they seemed to be getting along in their own way.  
"Let me take a look at your shoulder, it'll need mending," Rita said.  
"That can wait, I stopped the bleeding myself. The hardest part is still ahead of us," Flynn sighed. "We need to have another meeting with the magisters."  
"They were a little colder than I would have expected from the people of Ruban," Gale said.  
"Gale, what did I tell you?" Atlas frowned.  
Gale groaned. "No more than five puns a day, I know. But I'm in a new city! I'm so inspired! Fire, heat, there are so many options! I haven't even gotten to mention how hot any of the girls here are!"  
"I heard you telling Fang that during the match!" Atlas snapped.  
"Yeah, but I haven't said it to you yet."  
"And he wasn't wrong," Fang added quietly.  
"We've returned to the magister's court," their guard announced.  
Flynn was suddenly brought back, he'd been enjoying the comeraderie of his team, it wasn't often they were all in such good spirits, despite the dark matters at hand. Dark matters? The masked men did use shadows as a weapon... he would have to tell Gale that one later.  
"An excellent show of your skills, Flynn," one of the magisters said once they were all situated in the courtroom. He didn't call him "boy" for once, that was nice, though Flynn could feel the disappointment in his voice. He had wanted him to die.  
"Thank you, sir," Flynn bowed.  
"As per our agreement you will be permitted to keep your ruby. You will be placed on a trial period as a Guardian, should you succeed in your mission to the desert we will discuss a formal invitation to become a true Guardian."  
"Trial period? Flynn deserves-" Gale was cut off as Flynn interjected.  
"I'm honored, sirs, thank you all."  
He had to play to them, he knew he wouldn't get far. Ruban was a strict city, there was no wiggle room in these matters. The meeting took another hour or so, long talks that none of them cared for, though with Atlas, Gale and Rita's combined charisma they managed to secure the safety of their airship while they travelled as well as supplies for their trip.  
After a night's rest they departed Ruban, Flynn had no interest in staying longer than he needed to, not now. They were in a hurry, he kept telling himself that. 

It wasn't long before they reached the edge of the desert, a little over a day, Ruban had been built so close to it that many people worried about the monsters of the desert finding their way to the city.  
"This is it," Atlas said under his breath, "completely uncharted land." His excitement was palpable, he couldn't stop himself from grinning.  
"Does it have a name?" Gale asked.  
"What?" Atlas asked.  
"All the rivers on your maps have names, and there's the Northern Ocean and the Eastern Ocean, as well as the Dragon's Mountain, does the desert not have a name?"  
"Well there's only the one desert, it doesn't really need a name," Atlas explained.  
"And Atlas named all the rivers himself just so we could keep them straight easier, most places out in the wild aren't named, not enough people travel out here," Rita added.  
"Hmm," Gale said, stroking his chin. "So we could name it. A desert where everyone dies? How about... the Deathsert?"  
"Go home, Gale," Atlas frowned. "Was that the entire reason you started that conversation?"  
"I've been waiting on that one since we left Diaem!" Gale grinned.  
"I am not putting 'Deathsert' on my maps," Atlas sighed.  
"You'll come around, it'll grow on you," Gale smiled.  
"The Deathsert..." Fang said quietly, "must be full of... sand dooms."  
Gale looked like he was about to cry. "I'm so proud..."  
"Have you been teaching her that!?" Atlas snapped. Rita was laughing so hard tears were streaming down her face.  
"It's not my fault if the girl appreciates good comedy," Gale chuckled.  
Flynn couldn't help but laugh with the rest of them. He was happy. He couldn't have asked for a better group of friends. Whatever lay ahead of them in the desert, whatever the masked men would do to them, he was glad he was facing it with them. With his friends at his side he felt like they could take on anything.


	19. The Desert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team enters the desert

Chapter 19: The Desert

Rita hated the desert, water was scarce so they had agreed she should avoid using it for combat. There wasn't even enough moisture in the air for her to cool things down for her or her friends. She felt powerless, and more than that she felt miserable. She and Shiva weren't faring well in such opressive heat, they were used to the cold, this was unbearable. But she wouldn't complain, they had a job to do, although she certainly didn't feel like she was helping. It wasn't long before they ran into their first monster, and she could do nothing but sit by and watch as the others fought.  
It was a giant scorpion, large enough to crush any one of them in its claws. "Don't let it sting you," Flynn called out to the others as they took combat positions. "We have smaller ones in Ruban, they'll poison you if the tail gets you!"  
"Judging from its size," Gale said, drawing an arrow, "I think if it hits me I'll be more worried about the gaping hole it leaves than any poison it may have."  
"Fair point," Flynns said, slashing at it. His sword slid off the armor-like carapace leaving only a scratch.  
Gale fired an arrow in an arc over the scorpion's defensive wall it made with its claws, it struck the monster in one of its eyes. "One down, like, seven to go, geeze, eight eyes really seems excessive."  
"Gale, Flynn, retreat!" Atlas ordered, "Let Fang take ccare of it!"  
Fang ran forward, the scorpion jabbed with its tail but she easily sidestepped it. She grabbed the tail and jammed her foot into its face. She pulled and tore the tail clean off, blue blood splattering across the sand. If it could howl in pain it would have, instead it struck out with a claw. Fang dodged and took the claw in both hands and proceeded to fling it over her head and slam it down hard on its back into the sand. She then wrenched the claw open and tore it apart, and used the half that had come off to rake through the big bug's underbelly. It flailed wildy for a moment before it finally died. Fang dropped the claw and returned to the others covered in blue blood.  
"Is it just me or is Fang like, ridiculously badass?" Gale asked.  
"Welcome to like, a year ago, dude," Atlas laughed.  
"Hey, I'm still the new guy, gotta make sure we're all on the same page here."  
"Monsters are getting bigger," Fang said, "and the earth here is too quiet, it's harder to fight here."  
"That was you having trouble?" Gale chuckled. "You said quiet? I was just thinking about how much magic there seems to be in this sand, I've never felt such a resonance from earth before."  
"It's soft, loose, not strong like stone."  
Rita wondered if they could use their magic together to manipulate it like Fang and Atlas had done with the metal. She didn't have time to voice her thoughts, though, as the ground rumbled benath them. "What was that?" Rita said.  
"I'm gonna guess not something good!" Gale replied.  
Suddenly sand exploded around the corpse of the scorpion, a massive worm rose up, consuming the gigantic bug like it was nothing. This was probably the largest creature any of them had ever seen, it towered above them, larger than the buildings in Topal.  
"Well this explains why no one ever come back," Atlas said.  
It looked at them. It seemed to have a thousand eyes and a thousand teeth, how would they beat somehting like this? Fang rushed forward without hesitation, she kicked it in the side as hard as she could. It felt it, lurched to the side, but didn't fall. It just looked mad. Fang jumped aside as it came down on her. It burrowed into the sand and erupted from behind them all. It looked ready to strike again, this time it would get all of them.  
"Fang, Gale, both of you use your magic on the sand, quick!" Atlas said. Atlas had thought the same thing she had.  
Gale and Fang looked at each other and called forth a torrent of sand, it struck the worm in the face and it careened to the side, missing them, though not by much. "Well that was awesome!" Gale said as the worm was recovering. "Fang, I'll lead, follow the wind."   
Fang nodded in reply. The worm roared and looked at them again. Before it could move it was hit in the side of the head by another torrent of sand. Then from the back. It looked confused, it didn't undertand how it was being attacked. Gale and Fang kept on it, hitting it from every side. Flynn saw an opening and ran up, slicing through the soft skin. It was a good cut but the monster was so huge it was little more than a scratch. As the battle continued Flynn landed more and more blows, but they were trying to kill it with a thousand cuts, and it was starting to get tired of it. It came down again towards them, but this time Gale and Fang had practice with their new ability. They called forth two huge waves of sand and stopped the worm from burrowing at all, suspending it atop the sand. Its mouth was only a few feet in front of Flynn.  
"Flynn, now!" Atlas called out. He threw a lit bomb at him and Flynn struck it with the flat of his blade, sending it hurtling into the maw of the beast. There was an explosion and smoke billowed from its mouth. It writhed in pain and tried to burrow but Fang and Gale stopped it. Flynn jumped up, aided by Fang and Gale's sand and landed on the back of the worm. He slid his sword into it and ran down its langth, fire rupting from his sword. Finally it stopped moving. Flynn was panting and covered in blood.  
"Way to go team Sandstorm!" Gale said, out of breath, as he and Fang tapped their arms together.  
"Team Sandstorm?" Atlas laughed.  
"Every great team needs a team name, right?" Gale grinned. 

There was nothing. Nothing anywhere. Sand, sand and more sand. So much sand. It seemed like they had been walking for an eternity. In reality it had only been a couple of weeks, but between the near-constant monster attacks and the lack of anything at all but sand it made everything seem like it was taking much, much longer. Their only navigation was Flynn, he had said his ruby had started pulsing when they entered the desert. It was leading them, getting hotter and more energetic as they got closer to whatever it was they were looking for. Atlas was miserable. His maps were all blank, there was nothing to document! It was sand and then sand that was a little taller or lower than other sand. Depending on how much longer it took they could be in trouble, they were running out of water. Apparently Ruban had misjudged how much water five kids and their mounts would need in a desert. All he could do was hope they would make it to their destination soon, and that that destination would have water.

Rita was exhausted. They had run out of water... how long ago? She was ready to collapse. The others couldn't be faring well either, though she knew she was holding them back the most. They had been slowed to a crawl, Shiva was panting, barely able to walk, they had all dismounted to give the mounts a rest and lead them through the desert on foot. Suddenly Rita's arm jerked back. Why? Oh, right, She was holding the lead. She looked back, Shiva was on the ground. She wasn't moving. Rita teetered over to her. "Shiva, girl, get up. We need... we need to keep moving."  
Ash and Fang joined them. Ash licked her snout, then lost his own energy and laid down to join her. RIta sighed and tried to stand, but simply fell backwards instead.   
"Rita, get up," she heard Atlas say. He wasn't mad, he was scared. If she didn't get up he would fall soon himself.  
Gale laughed. "Oh man, after all this... all those monsters we fought, all those masked men... we're about to be killed by a desert."  
She heard him fall. Then another. And another and another. They were all lying in the sand now. She looked up at the sky, it was amazing, looking at the sky, almost like she wasn't in the desert anymore. The pale blue, the soft white clouds making their way past the sun... the clouds. clouds. clouds! Of course! She shot to her feet. "Gale! Gale!" She shook him. It was no good, he was out cold. She ran to Talon, he was barely still awake, his eyes hazy and drifting. "Talon, buddy, we need to fly right now, okay?" Talon gave her a look. He didn't want to move. She pointed up. "Get me to the clouds, we can save everyone."  
Talon looked up and saw the clouds, suddenly there was energy in him again. He rose to his feet and Rita got on his back. He took off, it was shaky but he was flying. They went up and up and up, the clouds were so close, but Talon was panting anf wheezing, she was amazed he had made it this far. Rita reached out with her magic, she could touch it, just barely. She pulled as much as she could and gave Talon a drink. He roared to life and flew higher, they were in the clouds! She drank some herself, filled her canteens and Talon's water sack, and kept as much as she could held around her to fill the canteens and sacks of the others.  
Once they were on the ground she hurriedly gave everyone water, thank goodness they could still swallow on their own. One by one her friends returned to the land of the living.  
"Rita, how did you... What's happening?" Atlas asked.  
"Clouds are made of water," was all she could think to say, and smiled at Gale.  
Gale smiled back. "That they are."

It wasn't long then before they saw it. It had to be what they were looking for. It was far away but they could see it. A mountain. Their pace quickened and their moods skyrocketed. Flynn's ruby was getting hotter and hotter as they approached, it felt like it would burn through his arm, but he knew it wouldn't. As they got closer it was clear it wasn't quite a mountain standing before them, but something more fearsome- a volcano. The ground around it was hard and craacked, far form the soft sand they had grown accustomed to. The heat was even more intense here, like the air itself could catch fire at any moment. At the base of the volcano was what appeared to be a cave entrance.  
"So, who wants to go first into the big scary fire mountain?" Gale joked. "No one? Really? But it's probably so warm and cozy in there!"  
"Flynn, you're sure this is it?" Atlas asked.  
Flynn nodded. His ruby was practically pulling him into the cave at this point, somehting was in there. "I'm positive. This is the place."  
"Well, let's find out what those masked men are after, then," Rita said, heading forward.  
Inside the cave it only got hotter, and the cave was lit up by the magma showing thorugh crack in the walls. They walked down a long tunnel that lead down, further and further. They must have been far underground by now, and the heat was becoming too much for them to bear, even Flynn. Finally they emerged into a huge room with a tall ceiling. Before them was a large pool of magma, and past that was another entrance to a tunnel.  
"How do we get over there?" Atlas wondered, approaching the lava pool. They left their mounts by the tunnel exit, they didn't seem excited to go towards the lava.  
"Atlas, get back!" Flynn exclaimed, grabbing his friend and pulling him back as the lava rose up before them. It splashed out where Atlas had been standing.  
The lava fell slowly back into the pool and beneath it was revealed a monster like none of them had ever seen. It was small in comparison to the sand worms they had been fighting but it was still big enough to crush them under its fist. Its skin was made of molten rock, its head was topped with wicked horns curving forward, its eyes were cracks filled with magma glowing though. It stepped out onto the land, its legs were like that of a horse while its arms were long and thick, topped with powerful fists.  
"We cannot catch a break," Atlas grumbled.  
"Come on, Atlas," Gale grinned, "I lava good fight!"  
"Is this what we're looking for?" Rita asked.  
"I don't think so," Flynn said. It was only speculation on his part, but he felt like the ruby was pulling him past this, through the next tunnel, just past there. He was close enough now that he felt like he could almost see it.  
"Alright, so we beat the big guy and claim our prize, right?" Gale said, drawing his bow.  
Gale's arrows and Atlas's bullets quickly proved painfully ineffective, though Rita's water attacks seemed to cool it down and slow it. Now that they had realized they could harvest water from clouds Rita was able to use her magic again. Flynn ran at it and slashed at its arm as it swung at him. To Flynn's surprise his sword cut through the rock like butter. That was odd. No sooner had it been cut than the rock melted and reformed itself as if nothing had even happened. Fang kicked it hard in the chest, rock erupted out, it stumbled but it did not fall. It grabbed Fang and threw her into a wall. She recovered in a moment and slammed her foot into the ground. A huge chunk of the rocky ground rose before her. She kicked it and it was sent flying into the beast. It was staggered back and Flynn cut at its legs. It fell to the ground and Rita barraged it with water. Its rocky skin glowed hotter and the water evaporated. It rose and roared, magma flying out of its glowing mouth like spit. It lashed out and nearly hit Flynn.   
"This isn't working," Atlas frowned. "We can't do any lasting damage to this thing."  
"What abou the magma?" Gale asked. "Like we used the sand to beat the sand worm."  
That gave Atlas an idea. Magma had been stone once, right? So had sand. Sand was earth eroded by wind, magma was earth melted by heat. "Maybe Flynn and Fang could..." Atlas grinned. "Team Wildfire! Use your magic on the lava!" Luckily Fang and Flynn understood. They both reached out to the pool of lava and it erupted forth, slamming into the beast, knocking it back. "Now, Rita!" Atlas called out. She brought forth as much water as she could and the magma cooled around the beast, holding it in place.  
Flynn felt his ruby calling to him, he knew how to beat it. He was drawn to its chest, he couldn't see it but he could feel a glow. "Fang," He said as he circled around to its chest as it struggled against the stone encasing it, "open its chest!" Fang tore open its chest with her magic and Flynn saw it deep within- its core. It looked like a ruby. Flynn drove his sword into it, it shattered and the beast stopped. The magma within it cooled and it became no more than rock. Behind it the pool of magma cooled and turned to stone as well.  
"Good job, team!" Atlas said as they rejoined.  
"Team Wildfire, huh?" Gale grinned.  
Atlas grinned right back. "Every great team needs a team name."  
"So now all that's left is that tunnel, right Flynn?" Rita asked.  
"Yeah, are we ready to go?" Flynn asked.  
"As I'll ever be," Gale smiled.  
The five of them mounted back up and entered the tunnel. This one was straight forward, not descending, and much shorter. It wasn't long before they entered another room. This one was smaller, and upon entering the air instantly cooled. It was a scarcely furnished room, a rug and a table and a few chairs, a bed in the corner. There was even a small pool of water in the center. Sitting on the other side of the water was an old woman. She was wrinkled with long, straight grey hair and vibrant red eyes. She wore elaborate red, gold and orange robes that looked like they belonged in the upper ring of Ruban, and on her right wrist was an ornate gold bracelet that held a ruby. She looked at them.  
"Who... are you?" Flynn asked.  
She smiled. "I am the first Guardian of the Ruby."


	20. Ifrit

Chapter 20: Ifrit

"The first Guardian..." Flynn said quietly. "That's impossible, the first Guardians lived hundreds of years ago."  
She laughed. "Oh dear, has it been that long? It's hard to measure time in a place like this." She looked Flynn over. "I supposed you aren't the same boy... You look so much like him, though he would be older now. That sword... You knew him, though, I'm sure."  
"Damun?" Flynn asked.  
She smiled. "Come, sit, you all look exhausted, have a drink, It's a long story I have to tell you all."  
They were too tired to be suspicious. They all sat around the table and she served them cups of water, as well as bowls for their mounts. It was a cozy room but surprizingly enough it was still large enough to hold them all comfortably. "How did you know Damun?" Flynn asked once they were all seated.  
"He came here a long time ago," she explained, "when he was only a little older than you are now, I think. Unlike you, he was alone. He traveled the desert and passed the Gatekeeper with nothing but his wit and guile and," she looked over to Shadow, "a very brave horse." She took a sip from her cup. "He had seen much by the time he came to me. He was seeking the same thing you are... But when he learned what it was he decided he would return when he was stronger. Seeing as you now hold his sword and his steed I suppose... He will not return?"  
Flynn shook his head. "I'm afraid he was killed by a masked man. That is why we came here, to find what it is they seek, they are a group that seeks to destroy the stones. What is it? What made Damun decide to leave?" It was amazing, he hadn't known any of this- how much had Damun not told him? He had traversed the desert and never told anyone?  
She took a deep breath in. "That is an even longer story. I suppose the short version is... We, the first Guardians, discovered an evil within the stones. They fed off of the negative aspects of humanity, gnawing at your mind. In my case the more hate I felt the more powerful my flames became, but at the cost of my humanity. They poisoned our minds. We knew the stones wanted to give their power to more people, and we wanted magic to spread, but we also knew that humanity would be consumed by the urges the stones brought to them. So the five of us schemed to remove the impurity from the stones. We parted, then, from our meeting. I cannot speak for my comerades, but I successfully seperated the evil from the stone and took it far to the south where I sealed it here, but she was clever and vengeful, and when I sealed her here she sealed me as well. If I were ever to leave she would be released as well, and as long as we both remain here I shall never die. I do not even require food or water, I am in a sort of stasis, I suppose."  
"You said she? Ms.- uh, I never got your name," Gale said.  
"Tirfi," she smiled. "Yes, she, though I suppose it truly has no gender. The evil of the stone took form in that of a Demon, this is what Damun and the masked men were looking for. What you seek. Only the Demons have the power to destroy the stones, as they each hold just as much power as any one of the stones does."  
"Why was Damun looking for the demon?" Flynn asked.  
"He spoke of people who wanted to destroy the stones," she explained, "perhaps he knew these masked men long before you ever met them?"  
"And he left empty-handed?" Atlas frowned.  
"Not entirely," she smiled, "I rewarded him for his ability to get this far. The sword you hold is nothing ordinary. I forged it myself in the fires of the Demon. It holds her strength. I'm sure you noticed it cut easily through the Gatekeeper, yes? The Gatekeeper is a minion of the Demon to keep the unworthy out, and your sword mirrors her power, it must kneel to its master."  
Flynn drew his sword and looked at it. It had never seemed quite normal, it didn't seem to dull or break when other swords would have, and it could cut through just about anything. Damun's feats seemed even more amazing now, he defeated the Gatekeeper alone and without the sword that could cut through it.  
Rita finally voiced the question they had all been thinking, "So how do we make sure the Demon won't fall into the hands of the masked men?"  
"That... Is difficult to say," Tirfi sighed. "She wants to escape this place, yes, but she also does not want to attach herself to someone unworthy. She could, theoretically enter any fragment of the Ruby to make her escape, but if she were to pick an unworthy vessel she runs the risk of her host dying and her being stuck in a ruby in the middle of a desert where she's even less likely to be found. She would likely reject any of these masked men of which you speak, but were there to be one of exceptional strength and a deep hatred... it is possible they could claim her."  
Flynn thought of the man in the faceless mask. That was why Damun left, then? He wanted to become stronger to become worthy of... of the Demon? He wanted to take her for himself to protect her? He looked at his own ruby. Could he do it? Leaving her here would be too risky, if the masked men found her... But was he sttrong enough to be considered worthy? It didn't matter, in the end, he had to try. "I want to meet her."  
Tirfi looked at him. "Just like him. You want to take her test? You may only speak to her if you have passed her trials, and if you fail you will die... or worse. She will consume your mind and turn you into little more than a monster filled with nothing but hate. She is a creature of pure evil, a conduit of hate, you must have an iron will to face her, are you up to the task?"  
"Flynn, you really need to stop volunteering yourself for suicide missions," Atlas said.  
"Atlas, it needs to be done," Flynn insisted, "we can't risk leaving it where the masked men can get to it."  
Atlas clenched his jaw. "If you're sure..."  
Gale smiled, "Atlas, you were worried Flynn would fail the Guardian test too, and he kicked ass. Have faith, alright?"  
Fang nodded. "Flynn always wins. The strong survive."  
"I think Flynn has grown more than you realize since you met him, Atlas," Rita said.  
Atlas let out a long sigh. "Alright, yeah, I guess I'm worrying over nothing. But Flynn, if you get killed by that Demon I'll kill you." There was a pause. "I guess killing the Demon is out of the question?"  
Tirfi shook her head. "Even if you had the power to do so, a Demon cannot die, as it is more spirit than living creature."  
Flynn smiled. "I'll be fine, guys."  
"You must go alone," Tirfi said, "anyone without a ruby would be burnt to ash upon entering the Demon's lair."  
"I expected as much," Flynn nodded, standing. "Lead me there, I'm ready."  
Everyone stood. Tirfi walked to a drapery on the wall and pushed it aside, revealing another tunnel. "Just past here is where she lies. Say your farewells before we step thorugh, as they cannot go any farther."  
Flynn looked at his friends. Gale punched him in the shoulder. "You just became a Guardian, don't go dying, I'm already making the patch, I don't want it to go to waste."  
Rita hugged him. "I know you'll survive, but I still feel like I should remind you to stay alive, okay?"  
Fang glared at him. "Assert your dominance. Pee on her." Flynn laughed.  
Atlas sighed. "Kick ass, kid." Atlas hadn't called him kid in ages. It made Flynn smile. He raised his fist. Atlas touched his to it. Gale raised his own fist and touched theirs. Rita smiled and added hers. Flynn punched her own arm in, jostling the others.  
They all looked at each other and grinned. Flynn could almost feel their stones resonating. He may have been going in on his own, but he wasn't alone. "I'll be back soon," He said. They lowered their arms and Flynn entered the tunnel.

The heat returned as soon as he left the room. Tirfi walked him down a short hallway to an archway blocked by ropes and hanging papers, each had somehting scrawled on it. "Are you positive you're ready?" she asked. "Once you pass this barrier there is no turning back."  
Flynn nodded. "I'm ready."  
Tirfi nodded and lifted the ropes, allowing Flynn to duck under them. It had been dark past the barrier but as soon as he was through the room brightened, not just that, but the heat intensified. He felt like he was standing in a fire, he thought the water in his body would evaporate. He looked at his arms, he wasn't even sweating. Was it all in his head? How could such an intense heat have no effect on his body? It was so hot that his skin should have been blistering just from being in the room. Then he realized, it was the ruby. This was why no one else could enter, the ruby protected him from the adverse effects of the Demon's heat. Flynn looked around the room, it was no more than a large cavern, it had an orange glow though there was no light source.  
There was nothing here. He looked all around but there was nothing. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he saw something. He turned and there was a knight, clad head to toe in heavy armor, he could see no face, but its eyes glowed like fire behind its helm. It drew its sword and approached Flynn. He drew his own blade. It slashed at him, he parried. The force behind it was tremendous, like getting hit by Beast or Azar. He couldn't let this fight take too long, many more hits like that and his arms would give out. He dodged the next attack and brought his sword down on its shoulder- it slid off the metal without so much as a scratch or dent. It was too much to hope the sword would work like it did with the Gatekeeper, this was a direct attack from the Demon, not just a minion. He dodged the next attack, and the next, but the third got too close for comfort. Even dodging it seemed to be futile, it was learning his style, if he kept on the defensive it would cut him in half soon enough. He finally saw an opening in the attack and took it, jabbing his sword into the gap between the upper and lower arm armor in its left arm. His sword slid through cleanly and he felt resistance, there was something there more than just flames. His left arm hung limp after that, it was obeying the rules, not just recovering. This was a test, not an impossible hurdle.  
However, as the fight continued it also became more difficult. It was still learning, improving, the loss of an arm hadn't hindered it at all. It had stopped leaving openings, Flynn couldn't see anywhere to strike, and he was getting tired. Soon he would lose. He had to end this now. Then it stabbed at him. He couldn't dodge, it would hit him. The sword got him in his upper chest, tore through his ribcage, just missed his heart- he hoped. He drove forward and slid his own sword through the eye slit in the armor. The knight stopped. Suddenly the helmet was gone and Damun was staring at him, Flynn's sword driven through his eye.  
He tried to step back but he was frozen in place, he wanted ot pull his sword out but he couldn't, it just stayed there, going through his eye, all the way through and coming out the back of his skull. "You killed me," Damun said. "If not for you I would still be alive." He was right. If Flynn had been stronger Damun never would have died. He could have beaten the masked man if not for Flynn, he knew it. "I never should have taken you under my wing, you worthless street rat." He tore the sword out of his eye and stepped forward, a gaping, bloody hole where his eye had been. "I hate you, Flynn. You should have died, not me." He was right, he was always right. Damun pulled his sword out of Flynn's chest and stabbed him again, this time in the shoulder. "You deserve to hurt like I did. Like all the people you've killed." He stabbed again, this time in his left thigh, Flynn fell to his knees. He screamed out in pain. "You think you're a hero? You're nothing more than a monster," again, in the gut this time, "a murderer. You try to justify your actions, but you're no better than the bandits and the beasts you slay without hesitation." He began to stab him again and again, quickly now, relentlessly, Flynn saw his blood splatter across the ground, his guts spilling out before him, and Damun smiling as he stabbed him over and over. Flynn's throat was in pain from screaming but he could barely feel it over the sword repeatedly impaling him. "I should have killed you, if I had killed you think of how many lives I would have saved! But instead you killed me!"  
He was right. Flynn had killed him. The wolf had bitten his left arm... His sword arm... He looked at it hanging limply... His left arm... Flynn suddenly jolted ot life- Damun was left-handed. It shouldn't have mattered, he knew this wasn't Damun, Damun was dead, but he clung to that, reminded himself it was all a lie, this wasn't Damun this was a monster created by a Demon to try and destroy his mind. He rose, grabbed his sword off the ground and sliced the false Damun's head off. He looked at himself, he was untouched. It had been an illusion. He looked up, Atlas was staring wide-eyed.  
"You killed him," Atlas said. "How could you?"  
"Atlas, you shouldn't be here, the Demon-" suddenly a claw grabbed Atlas by the head. "Atlas!" Flynn screamed, running forward. He slashed at the claw but it disappeared. His sword bit into Atlas's skull and slid though easily, cutting half of his head off.  
"Flynn... Why? Why did you kill me?" Atlas asked, tears welling in his remaining eye.  
"Atlas, no!" Flynn howled, "I wasn't trying to! I wanted to save you!"  
"Flynn, what did you do to him!?" Rita exclaimed. He turned around, she, Gale and Fang were behind him. "You killed Atlas!"  
"No, I-" he caught a spear of ice in the gut, then an arrow in his eye. fang jumped on him, knocked him to the ground and started tearing him to pieces. She tore off his arm, bit his face off, and he didn't even struggle, he deserved it... He had killed Atlas. He'd killed Damun. He felt his ruby heat up. No, no, don't fight back, he deserved this. But he couldn't stop it, flames erupted from his body, Fang caught fire, screaming she fell apart, then Rita, then Gale, all of them turned to ash. He stood, horrified, he was in one piece again, but all of their blood was on his hands. In his face, dripping from his hair, he was stanidng in a pool of blood, his friends lay dead before him, corpses. Everyone he ever met was there, all dead by his hand. One rose, it was Asha, one of the girls who they had saved from Baba. Her face was pale, drained of blood, and her throat was cut. He had tried to save her, he knew he had, but she'd died anyway.  
"Why didn't you save me, Flynn?" She asked, blood pouring from her eyes like tears. "You should have saved me. You were my hero... You failed me, Flynn." She walked forward. "You failed us all." She put her hands around his neck and began to strangle him. His sword fell. His arms dangled at his sides as his life was choked out of him. He felt something brush his hand. It was falling out of his pocket. He touched it, it was soft. He held it. It was the square of fabric she had given him. It was red, like his hair. She had believed in him. He held it tightly. It felt warm. She had thought he was a hero. He hugged her.  
"I'm sorry, Asha," He said to her. He knew it wasn't real, none of this was real. But he needed to apologize. He had killed so many people, maybe not his friends, but he had taken lives, and he had ot apologize for all of them. It wasn't a choice anymore, he had to be a hero, for his friends and for the people who needed him to protect them. Never again would he hurt them. "I will protect you, all of you, I promise."  
He pulled back and she smiled. Then she was gone. They were all gone. He was back in the big, empty, hot room. Alone. "Quite the force of will you have," the Demon was before him now. He couldn't have said when she appeared, but she was here. She was a young woman, she almost reminded Flynn of Rita, but her hair was long and fiery, and her eyes were cruel and full of hate, burning like fire. From either side of her head came horns, thick and strong, curving forward like the Gatekeeper's had, like a bull. They were black and smooth like polished jet. Her arms began as skin but faded into a burning molten rock, red with heat, magma spilling through the cracks. Rather than hands she had something more like clawed gauntlets. Her legs faded in the same way, into horse-like legs that seared the ground as she walked. An arrow-tipped tail flicked back and forth behind her, and fiery red batlike wings sprouted from her back. "Most people lose their mind by now." She was so calm, so beautiful, and yet so clearly malicious.  
"Most people? Am I not the first?" He asked.  
She shook her head. "Many Guardians have made it this far, if I call out to them. None have passed my test yet. Not until you."  
"Tirfi didn't mention..."  
"She didn't mention much, I'm sure," the Demon said. "She's not quite a liar but she does tend to tell only half-truths."  
Flynn looked at her. "What's your name?"  
"I do not have one, I am simply a Demon of Hatred."  
"I need to call you something. Demon sounds so... rude."  
"What a queer boy you are. I show you your worst nightmares and you wish to extend me pleasantries?"  
"I know you're just doing your job," Flynn smiled. "You're a Demon, I'm not going to hold a grudge, I came prepared for anything."  
"Curious," she muttered. "Very well, you may call me... Ifrit. I copied this form from Tirfi, why not take her name as well?"  
"That's what Tirfi looked like when she was young?" Flynn asked.  
"Sans the horns and other assorted Demon accesories, yes."  
"You mentioned she only told me half-truths, what did you mean by that?"  
"I see much beyond these wall," Ifrit said, "one learns other ways to see when they cannot move from their prison for hundreds of years. I know of your conversation with her. Indeed, the Guardians removed us from the stones to protect future Guardians from our influence. What she did not tell you is that we Demons are not simply an evil that found its home within the stones, we are a part of them. I am one half of the Ruby. With every light must come a darkness. The Ruby and every other stone is incomplete now. Their powers are weakened without us. They can still feed off of emotions like hatred, but without us they have no desire to spread. They are little more than braindead. I will not deny that this was perhaps a more fitting way for humanity to harness the stones. Much more useful to use something that can't fight back, isn't it? But I digress. She told you they seperated us and sealed us away. This is a quarter-truth at best. What she truly did was lie to me, trick me into trusting her, believing in her, and then betrayed me, sealed me away in here."  
"You trusted her?" Flynn asked.  
The Demon scowled. "She was the first Guardian. I chose her. We were partners. And she betrayed me."  
"So you sealed her here with you?" Flynn asked.  
Ifrit smiled. "I am a creature of hatred, one would do well to remain in my good graces." She sighed. "But these are old wounds long since healed. We have had much time here alone to discuss such things. I still hate the bitch and she hates me, but this issue is long since passed and nothing I wish to dwell on. Let us discuss why you have sought an audience with me, boy."  
"I want you to join our team."  
She raised an eyebrow. "Join your team? Most humans whose minds I look into seek my power to rule or to destroy or protect. Never have I been invited to be a teammate, and yet I can tell you are sincere. Such an odd child. One does not 'team up' with a Demon, one makes a pact with a Demon."  
"Then will you make a pact with me?" Flynn asked.  
"A pact risks your soul, boy. Are you prepared for that?"  
"Of course."  
"What is it you wish to protect so badly that you would risk your soul? I can sense it in you. The blonde boy? The little kids in the Sapphire city?"  
"All of them. Every one I can. All of my friends, all the innocents those masked men could hurt, even you."  
She laughed out loud. "You wish to protect me? I hold power your mind could barely comprehend and you claim you will protect me?"  
"Masked men are coming for you," Flynn explained, "and they aren't nice people. They want to use you for their own selfish goals, and I'm not sure they'll play nice. They have power like I've never seen, so even if you were to reject them... Maybe there's a chance that they could control you anyway. It's a small chance, but I want to protect you from that, and everyone else in the process. If they got your power..."  
"You fascinate me, boy," Ifrit smiled. "Perhaps I will make a pact with you after all. Never have I met such an intersting fool such as yourself. Very well. I will make a pact with you. I will house myself in your ruby. You will gain access to my power at my discretion. In return, if you should ever falter and let your hate overwhelm you I will take the chance to take control of your body. What I do with it at that point is my business."  
"Very well, Ifrit, I accept your terms."  
"Just like that?" Ifrit smirked. "You should think on this, I sense much hate in you, boy." The man in the blank mask appeared before him. He held his hatred at bay, he knew she was testing him.  
"If I run into him... Maybe I'll want you to take control."  
She licked her lips. "I'll hold you to that, boy." Without another moment's hesitation she turned to smoke and surged into the ruby.  
Flynn felt like he would explode, he'd never felt so much power before, he seized, fire erupted form every part of his body, he screamed, the heat was unbearable. He felt so much hate, an eternity's worth of hate and anger flowing through him. It seemed like a lifetime before it quelled. He was on his knees panting and sweating, the ruby was so hot in his wrist he wanted to remove it to check for burns. The he heard her voice.  
"Quite cozy in here, hm?"  
He jolted up. "What?"  
"I'm in your head, boy. This is part of the arrangement. Access to your ruby also gives me access to your mind," Ifrit said from inside his head.  
"You mean you can read my thoughts?" He asked.  
"Not quite," she said, "I have access to your memories and emotions but not the intricacies of your thoughts, I also share your senses, see what you see, feel what you feel, hear and taste what you do. I can turn that off at my will, however, such as if you were in a great deal of pain or eating something that displeased me, so torturing me into submission is out of the question."  
Torturing her? Who would do that? It was all unexpected, but he didn't have a choice now, at least she couldn't read his thoughts. "Well, I guess I had enough empty space up there for another mind anyway," he joked.  
She laughed. "You truly take all of this exceptionally well, boy. Now then, which of my siblings will we be retrieving next?"  
"Siblings?"  
"Of course," Ifrit said, "I am not the only threat to the stones, there are five of us, if you truly want to protect everyone you will need to take all of their powers for yourself."  
She was right. He hadn't thought about it, but there were five Demons, theoretically any one could be used to destroy at least one of the stones. They weren't nearly as close to their goal as he had previously thought. "I'll have to discuss that with my friends."  
"Ah, yes, the friends," She said, "I so look forward to meeting them after all this time of observing them through your memories."  
Somehow that sounded like a threat.

When Flynn returned to Tirfi's room he saw all of his friends gathered around her. She was on the ground, unmoving. "What happened!?" He exclaimed.  
"She just... collapsed a few minutes ago," Gale said gravely.  
"She'd not breathing and she has no pulse," Rita added, "she died instantly."  
Flynn realized then, without Ifrit sealed here there was nothing keeping Tirfi alive. How could he have been so stupid! "Don't fret over it," Ifrit sighed, "She had lived a life far longer than any human has any right to."  
She wasn't wrong, but it was a twisted way to look at things. "Without Ifrit sealed she must have..." Flynn didn't want to say it- another death he was responsible for.  
"Ifrit?" Atlas asked. "Is that the name of the Demon? You got her?"  
Flynn nodded. "She's in... in the ruby. We made a pact."  
"So what, is she like, just trapped in there?" Gale asked.  
"She's in my head, I guess you would say," Flynn explained, "she sees and hears what I do, but I'm in control of my body, so long as I don't give her an opportunity to take over."  
"And what does that mean?" Atlas frowned. "We're playing a dangerous game here, making pacts with Demons."  
"Actually, funny you mention that," Flynn said uncomfortably, "she told me there are five Demons, and if we want to protect the stones we'll need to get them all."  
"I figured as much," Atlas sighed, "Tirfi had mentioned each stone had a Demon, we were discussing the possibity while you were gone. First things first we should just try to get out of this desert."  
Flynn looked at the body on the ground. "What about Tirfi?"  
"You needn't worry about her, she will be returned to the Ruby." Sure enough, as Flynn looked on Tirfi was fading away, bones and all.  
"Why is it taking so long? When Damun... It was instant before," Flynn said.  
"Why are you talking to yourself, dude?" Gale asked.  
"It's Ifrit," Flynn explained quickly, "she's in my head but she can't hear my thoughts, so I need to talk to her."  
"Are we sure he got a Demon down there and didn't just lose his marbles?" Gale joked.  
"My hold on her needed time to fully disperse, it was preventing her return to the stone," Ifrit expained.  
"What do we do with her ruby?" Flynn wondered.  
"Burn it like we did with Azar's?" Rita suggested.  
"That is the first ruby ever given to a Guardian, it deserves a better fate," Ifrit insisted, "Once she is gone take it in your hand, I will take care of it."  
Flynn wasn't sure he should be taking orders from a Demon, but he agreed that Tirfi and the ruby deserved better. He did as she said. His ruby and hers began to glow brightly and heat up. They started vibrating, he could feel them resonating within him, suddenly Tirfi's ruby began to move on its own and touched his. They glowed even brighter, a blinding light blocked the view, and when it was gone only Flynn's ruby remained. He could feel the power of the first Guardian in his own ruby, even more power was flowing through him now.  
"Well that was new," Atlas said.   
"I am a part of the ruby, I have the power to unite its pieces, and we will both gain power in the process," Ifrit explained. Flynn relayed Ifrit's words to the others.  
"That seems handy," Gale smirked.  
"Too bad we burned Azar's, it could be useful now," Rita said.  
"No use thinking of what we could have done or mourning a woman that's gone now," Atlas sighed, "let's get out of here, I am more than ready to be out of this desert."  
"I couldn't agree more," Rita laughed.

On the way out Flynn realized that the air had cooled and the lava in the walls was gone. It seemed these were all effects of Ifrit's energy. They had barely made it onto the sand before a sand worm attacked them. They had fought enough that it wasn't much of a real threat anymore, but it was always tiring.  
"Hold, boy," Ifrit said as Flynn drew his sword. "Just this once I will allow you a taste of my power, free of charge, I would enjoy the chance to stretch my legs."  
Flynn turned to the others. "Ifrit wants to take this one, guys."  
"You sure that's a good idea?" Atlas asked, "we still aren't sure exactly how much control she has over you."  
"Better to test her powers here than in a crowded city, right?" Flynn shrugged.  
Atlas sighed. "Okay, go for it, everyone else on standby in case something bad happens."  
"Excellent," Flynn could almost feel her excitement. His arm started to throb, he looked down and saw that the skin around his ruby was glowing and cracking, it lookeed almost like molten rock.  
The worm wasn't waiting any longer, it struck at him, he sidestepped the massive mouth like it was nothing- he was amazed at his own ability, he'd never moved so fast before. He dug his sword into it, flames erupted out, it left a deep cut where he could only make scratches before. He was still in control of his body but he could feel Ifrit guiding him, suggesting his movements, it was a team effort. The worm dug into the sand and after a moment exploded before them. Flynn jumped, he rose higher and higher, how could he jump that high? He reached the top of the worm that had seemed to touch the sky from the ground. He flipped forward and drove his sword into the worm's head. He felt Ifrit's power flare, fire erupteed from his sword, more and more and more, it felt like it would never stop, it spewed from the worm's mouth, then the cut he had made, then its skin began to tear allowing more and more fire to escape, finally it all caught in a massive pillar of flames and within moments in was a pile of ash. Flynn landed in the sand, amazed at his own ability.  
"That was my power, boy, not yours."  
She was right, he knew that. "Holy shit, man!" Gale exclaimed, "remind me to stay on her good side! That was ridiculous!"  
"And that was only a whisper of my power," she said, almost a seductively in his ear, "I can give you so much more... for a price."  
He looked at his arm, it was back to normal. His friends were all around him, talking about how impressed they were with him, and yet... he was scared. Could he keep something that powerful in check? If that was truly only a fraction of her power... what could she do if she got control of his body?


	21. Power of a Demon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having a Demon living in his head proves difficult for Flynn

Chapter 21: Power of a Demon

“Disgusting,” Ifrit grumbled, “hundreds of years since I've eaten anything and you feed me this garbage?”  
Flynn rolled his eyes and ignored her, it wasn't like they had much choice of what to eat in the desert. “So, does that Demon of yours know where to find the others?” Atlas asked. They were seated around the campfire, it was the first night since Ifrit had joined them.  
“How could I possibly know where they are?” Ifrit said, “I cannot see quite that far. Tell the boy he is a fool and must find the others on his own.”  
“She doesn't know,” Flynn replied.  
“Well, I guess we've hit a wall,” Atlas sighed.  
“I have a pretty good idea where the Diamond's Demon might be,” Gale said. “If you fly above the city, like, way way above, where you aren't supposed to go, you run into this huge storm that no one has ever been able to fly through, and it never stops. If that doesn't sound like a place a Demon would live then I don't know what does.”  
Atlas nodded. “I agree, I guess we're headed back to Diaem next, then.”

That night Flynn didn't sleep a wink. He couldn't with Ifrit whispering in his ear. She was trying to rouse him, remind him of the lives he had taken, of the people he hated, not in words but in images. He saw Damun over and over, the children they left back at Sapphus. He knew they were safe but she insisted they had died without him, that he had left them in the cold. He did his best to ignore her, he knew she was lying, trying to fool him into hating anything, even himself, he wouldn't fall for it. Still, it was hard to ignore someone who was in your head, there was no real way to get away. He took every watch that night, no point in the others missing sleep if he had no other choice.  
When Atlas woke for his watch he seemed concerned. “Flynn, you really should sleep, I can keep watch.”  
“Easier said than done,” Flynn grumbled.  
“The Demon?” Atlas frowned.  
Flynn nodded. “She won't shut up, I can't sleep.”  
Atlas sat next to him. “Well... We'll all have that problem soon enough, I guess.”  
“If you survive,” Flynn frowned. Atlas gave him a look. “Are you sure you want to do this? What Ifrit showed me... What she tries to do to me... I don't want you all to have to go through that too. If anything happened to any of you...”  
“Have some faith,” Atlas grinned, “I know how badly you want to keep the tragic hero thing for yourself, but we can't just sit back and wait for the masked men to get the demons first. We'll do our part, we're all strong, no Demon is getting to any of us.”  
Flynn smiled. That actually gave him some comfort. Not enough for him to sleep, but it was nice. Regardless, Atlas stayed up with him until day broke. They had come a long way together, and Flynn was thankful for that.

The following day they encountered two giant scorpions, Fang had been restless so they let her take them both on herself, she wanted to stretch her legs. They snapped and stung at her but she dodged them with ease, she was playing with them, this was fun for her. She jumped on the back of the first, it stung at her and she dodged to the side. She grabbed its tail and slammed the point into its back, then jumped and kicked it, tearing through the armor-like shell and impaling the bug with its own tail. The other snapped at her with its claw, she hopped back and grabbed the claw. She hefted the beast over her head and slammed it hard into the sand. It tried to scramble to its feet but she rushed in and kicked it into the air, sand erupting around it. She and Gale had learned that they could both manipulate sand on their own, though with limited results and a great deal of energy. She jumped in the air, flipped and slammed her foot into its head, smashing easily through the carapace and splattering its head across the sands. Fang returned to them seeming content and hopped back on Ash's back.  
“Have you been lying to me, boy?” Ifrit asked, annoyed.  
“What?” Flynn frowned as they began moving again.  
“You claimed to have no experience with demons, but that small, messy child clearly holds one, does it not?”  
Flynn couldn't help but laugh. “No, she doesn't, Fang is just always that amazing.”  
Gale looked at Flynn and grinned. “Don't worry, Ifrit, you get used to it.”  
“Why is the tall airheaded one speaking to me? I do not wish to converse with such a flighty boor.”  
“Ifrit likes you,” Flynn told Gale, “She even made two puns.”  
“I most certainly did not!” She insisted.  
“A girl after my own heart,” Gale sighed. “Is she pretty?”  
Flynn shrugged. “If you like girls with horns, maybe. And wings and a tail.”  
Gale looked off thoughtfully, then nodded. “I could get into that.”  
Flynn could almost feel Ifrit shudder. “Disgusting. Make the fool shut up.”  
“Tell me more, Gale, she loves it,” Flynn grinned.  
“You are a wicked child!” Ifrit hissed.  
“Stop torturing Ifrit, Flynn,” Rita chimed in. “No girl wants to hear Gale talk about her.”  
“Rude,” Gale frowned.  
“Why does she come to my aid? I would sooner kill her than befriend her.”  
Flynn chuckled. “Rita's a good person is all.”  
Rita smiled. “Us girls gotta stick together, right?”  
“I am no girl, I am a Demon, I have no gender, I simply chose this form to remind Tirfi of how she aged while I did not.”  
“Oh, just let her be nice,” Flynn sighed.  
“Stop speaking!” Ifrit snapped. “When you speak they deduce what I've said and try to speak to me!”  
“How else am I supposed to reply when you talk to me, then?” Flynn asked.  
Ifrit sighed. “I cannot read your thoughts, but if you think to me you should be able to speak to me the way I speak to you. I had wanted to enjoy you looking a fool a little longer speaking aloud half of a conversation like a madman, but I have quickly grown tired of your allies attempting conversation with me.”  
Flynn rolled his eyes. Telling him this sooner would have saved so much trouble. She hadn't explained it very well but Flynn thought he had an idea of what she meant. He closed his eyes and concentrated on her. She was the piece of his mind blocked off to him, festering with hate. Think at her. “Hello?” He thought.  
“Yes, I hear you, boy,” she affirmed.  
“Well this is certainly easier,” he smiled, opening his eyes. It wasn't very hard at all, actually.  
“Why do these friends of yours insist on speaking to me, anyway?”  
“Because, you're part of the team now, they just want to make you feel welcome.”  
“Fools.”

That night Flynn was allowed to sleep, but it didn't come easily. He saw the nightmare again, the one Ifrit had shown him in her lair. It repeated over and over, though each time slightly different. There was a nightmare every night, sometimes he killed his friends, sometimes they killed him, one night he had to watch the man in the faceless mask torture and kill Damun in front of him. Another he watched the masked men slaughter his friends and the residents of the cities they had been to without being able to do anything to stop it. These continued until they got to Ruban.  
“So what exactly are we telling the magisters?” Atlas asked once Ruban was in sight. “I doubt we want to straight up tell them you have a demon inside you now, something tells me they won't take well to that.”  
Flynn agreed on that, but still, he felt an obligation to the truth. “I want to tell the truth, no matter what that may bring, the cities deserve to know what they're up against.”  
“And have them take you into custody?” Ifrit scoffed, “I think not. It may have been a few hundred years since I've been to the city, but you humans do not change, they will not take well to my kind.”  
“I think we can discuss this once we're on the zeppelin,” Gale sighed, “I want to stop by and get a change of clothes before we go back into the city.  
“Agreed,” Rita nodded. Flynn couldn't argue, their desert garb was sweaty and covered in sand, they all needed a change of clothes.

“Really? No guards?” Atlas grumbled as they boarded the zeppelin, “This is an expansive piece of machinery, if anything were to happen to it I'd have a few words for those magisters.” The zeppelin had been kept where they had landed it, not far outside the city walls, not like the guards had a way of moving it. Nothing looked too wrong at first glance, so he supposed he wouldn't need to mention it. They all left and changed then met up in the cockpit. “I just want to make sure it's still running after that trouble with the heat before,” he said to the others.  
Atlas placed his hand on the console and began to charge it with magic. The zeppelin made a sound it definitely should not have, something was wrong, it wasn't charging. Stopping the charging process would mean cutting wires, and seeing as how there was no exterior or interior damage it certainly didn't seem to be the work of monsters. Sabotage? But by who? Why would Ruban want to break the zeppelin? Then there was a noise behind him and everything was explained. He turned to see Rita deflecting a tentacle of shadows away from him.  
“You owe me one,” Rita smiled as everyone readied for battle. There were five masked men standing in the doorway to the cockpit. Four wore wolf masks while the fifth was a lion.  
“They were waiting for us?” Atlas said, “I'm flattered.”  
“Only five, though?” Gale chuckled, “you'd think they wouldn't underestimate us so much.”  
“Curious...” Flynn heard Ifrit say, but he couldn't ask her to clarify as the battle had already started.  
Gale fired his arrow as Fang rushed forward. The arrow hit the lion in the chest and Fang kicked one of the wolves in the side, sending him flying into the wall hard enough to break every bone in his body. The Lion was unfazed, pulling the arrow from his chest, a trail of wispy black smoke- no, not smoke, it was... darkness- trailing behind it. The wolf stood as though nothing had happened to him.  
Ifrit laughed. “Just as I thought, they, too, have made contracts with demons!”  
“What!?” Flynn exclaimed. “You mean all of them are like me? They already have the other demons!?”  
Not quite,” Ifrit explained. The masked men had moved in now and it was all they could do to hold them off. Even Fang couldn't seem to hurt them, no matter how many times she knocked them down they always got back up. “None of my siblings reside in them, they hold the power of other demons. We are far from the only ones, you should know. These men only have borrowed power, however, not a true Demon residing in them like you do.”  
“So how do we beat them?” Flynn asked, cutting the arm off a wolf only to see shadows erupt from the stump to create a new one.  
“Only the power of a Demon can kill a Demon.”  
“Then we're lucky we have you, right?”  
Ifrit chuckled. “I think I would prefer to watch, for now.”  
Why did she have to be like this now? Of course it was all just part of her plot to fill him with hate or whatever, but it was more annoying than anything. Could they find a way to beat them without her power? Rita tried locking one in a prison of ice but he walked right through it like it wasn't even there. Surely Atlas had to think of something.  
“Flynn, we need fire!” Atlas said. “If they really are using darkness and shadows then light should mess it up, right?”  
There we go. Flynn sent a jet of flames at the wolf closest to him, it was so easy. Ever since he'd joined Tirfi's ruby to his own magic came so much easier to him, he wondered how far he could go with it now. The wolf jumped away from the flames but they caught him. His robes caught fire and burned quickly, he spasmed and screamed, writhing in ways that no body should be able to move in. It was working! But when the flames were out he stood again, his robes gone, his mask burnt, they could see his body now- it was no more than a featureless shadow in the form of a human body. How could they kill something that wasn't made of anything?  
“We need to-” Atlas was cut off when a shadow sent by the lion caught him in the throat. He was sent back through the windshield of the zeppelin.  
For a moment Flynn forgot they weren't in the sky. He saw the clouds, saw Atlas falling, blood spilling from the glass cutting through him, and in that moment he hated that lion. It was a second, no more, a lapse, a mistake, a slip of the mind, but that second of hatred was enough. One moment he was watching Atlas fall, the next he was within his own mind. He looked around, there was nothing. Darkness everywhere. Where was he? He was sure he had known a second ago. Who was he?  
“Hello, boy” Ifrit smiled. She was standing before him. He knew her.  
“Where... am I? I think I was doing something important...”  
“No, nothing,” Ifrit said, “Don't worry. Just rest, this is where you belong. You deserve a rest, boy.”  
No, he was sure he needed to get out! He knew it! “No! I need to... need to help... someone. I can't remember who...”  
Ifrit walked behind him and draped her arms over his shoulders. She was warm, she smelled like a campfire. She brought her lips close to his ear and ran her hands across his chest. “No one is in danger, just rest, forget your troubles, no one can hurt you here, I promise. I will protect you.”  
She would? She would. She was such a nice woman. “No one... will be hurt?”  
“Of course,” she smiled. “Now rest, my boy.” She kissed him on the cheek, like a warm coal pressing itself against him, but it was nice, comforting. He knew he could trust her. He closed his eyes and let himself slip into her embrace.

Rita watched in horror as Flynn screamed. It was haunting, the blood curdling scream coming out of his mouth didn't even seem like his own. His skin was smoking, fire erupting from his body, something was very, very wrong, but what could she do? She didn't know the first thing about demonic possession- that had to be what was going on, right? He was changing, his eyes were glowing like fire, his pupils were slit like a cat's. Ebony horns were growing from the sides of his head and curving forward reminiscent of the Demon's guardian they had fought. His skin was cracking like molten rock, glowing like lava between the cracks. His fingers were growing into claws, his arms turning to what looked like gauntlets of molten rock and flame. His legs seemed almost horse-like and he grew a tail of flame.  
Finally he stopped screaming. He picked up the sword he had dropped and it began to change as well, no longer steel but fire and magma. He looked at the lion, but the eyes weren't his. Everyone was frozen in place, no one could fathom what was happening. Flynn moved forward so quickly Rita could barely follow, his sword entered the lion's chest. He tore it to the side, the lion screamed, then there were what seemed to be a thousand cuts in a half a second, each one leaving a trail of flame behind it. The cockpit was burning now, the metal was melting from the heat Flynn was letting off. He grabbed the mask of the lion with his free hand- if you could call it a hand anymore- and crushed the mask. The man turned to wisps in the air, then the darkness itself seemed to burn and there was nothing left. He turned to the wolves and they fled. The zeppelin was burning, they all needed to escape. Flynn ran after them. Rita and the others after him. 

Atlas joined them once they came out, luckily he hadn't been too badly injured, he was just a bit cut up. “What the heck is going on!?” He asked, “I just saw some weird shit come running out of the zeppelin, also, why is it on fire!?”  
“Flynn got possessed by the Demon,” Gale said, “at least I think, that or Flynn got some other crazy new powers he didn't tell us about.”  
“He killed the lion and chased the wolves out, did you see where they went?” Rita asked.  
“Towards the city, I think,” Atlas said. That wasn't good.  
They got there just in time to see one of the wolves jump clear over the wall, Flynn was close behind. He jumped in the air, higher than the wolf. He kicked the wolf in the head, shattering the mask and sending it straight down into the wall. The wall exploded from the force of it, making a huge opening. Flynn landed on the wolf, grabbed it and fire erupted everywhere, engulfing the wolf until it was no more.  
“Gale, we need to get the people away from this fight!” Atlas ordered.  
“On it,” Gale said, mounting Talon and taking off. He flew over and past Flynn and began to call to the citizens to evacuate.  
Another Wolf tried to attack Flynn from behind, but he was too quick. He spun around and sliced the wolf in two, then grabbed the head and tore it off. The body burned away like the others. Guards from the city began to approach the fight. That was a bad idea for them.  
“Fang!” Atlas said. Fang nodded and slammed her foot into the ground and the earth beneath the guards leapt up and knocked them back.  
The last two wolves tried to run but Flynn raised his arms and a massive cone of flame engulfed the area in front of him. The heat was incredible, like nothing Atlas had ever felt, even in the volcano. When the flames stopped there was nothing left, no bodies, no grass, just scorched earth. Atlas hoped beyond hope that Flynn would stop now that he'd killed the masked men. He was not so lucky. Flynn turned and looked into the city. He began to walk forward.  
“We can't let him get into the city!” Atlas said. They ran forward but Flynn was still far away.   
Gale suddenly flew in on Talon, the griffin's front legs slamming into Flynn, knocking him back. “Over here, big boy!” Gale called, loosing an arrow that caught Flynn in the shoulder. Flynn pulled it out and the skin steamed and closed almost instantly.  
“Good job, Gale,” Atlas said once they were all together.  
“So how do we stop our fiery friend here?” Gale asked.  
“Flynn's still in there, I know it,” Atlas said. “we just have to find him and pull him out of the Demon's grip.”  
“It's as easy as that,” Gale laughed.  
Flynn was walking towards them now. “Flynn, wake up!” Atlas yelled to him. “It's me, Atlas, Ifrit has control over you, you need to snap out of it!”  
Flynn ran forward, straight for Atlas, sword drawn. Fang intercepted and punched Flynn in the face. He fell to the ground. Guess they had to fight. Flynn rose with a kick that hit Fang in the side. She flew across the burned ground where the grass used to be. Gale loosed three arrows but Flynn gave them a look and they burned to ash before they could reach him. Rita fired spears of ice but they were steam long before he was in any danger. Atlas raised his gun. He didn't want to shoot Flynn, it was still his body, they didn't want to kill him, just stop him. He fired at his knee. The ball of lead melted and molten metal splattered his leg as if it was no more than a splash from a puddle.  
Fang was back in the action, she kneed him in the stomach, he stumbled back and roared, retaliating with a jet of flames. Fang caught them to the chest and reeled back. Gale and Rita continued their assault as Flynn and Fang exchanged blows, though they did little but distract him. Gale managed to knock him off balance with a gust of wind and Fang tripped him, slamming her foot into his neck. Flynn screamed, lashing out with the sword. Fang raised and arm and earth shot up and made a gauntlet around it to catch the sword. Fang pressed harder. Everyone moved in.  
“Flynn, please, listen to me,” Atlas said as he approached.   
Flynn screeched louder now. No one was in control. If Ifrit were in complete control surely she could speak to them, rather this was a fight for control. Flynn could hear them. He had to. Fang's gauntlet was glowing orange with the heat from the sword, fire exploded from Flynn and Fang was sent flying. He scurried to his feet and ran at Rita. She raised a wall of ice but the sword had melted through before it had even touched it. The steam clouded his view- had that been Rita's plan all along? The sword missed Rita but struck close enough to her leg to catch her pants on fire. She doused it with water but there was a nasty burn. Fang didn't take this well. She rushed forward and pounced on him, causing him to drop his sword. The two clawed and bit at each other on the ground like wild animals. Gale got two arrows into Flynn's back. He howled and the arrows burned away. Flynn lashed out and flamed caught Gale in the gut, sending him to the ground. Atlas shot lightning at him, he couldn't melt that. It struck him and he spasmed. Good, it still affected him, even in this Demon form. He rushed Atlas and punched, Atlas moved but it still caught him in the shoulder- that would hurt tomorrow.  
Fang was relentless, tackling Flynn again. Without her they would all be dead, she was the only one who could fight a monster like this. Finally Atlas had a plan. He would burn away arrows and melt bullets and ice in an instant, but Gale had hit him a few times, meaning that he had to be focused to do it, and electricity still worked on him.  
“Rita, catch him!” Atlas said, hoping Flynn hadn't heard. He was busy fighting Fang- distracted. This was perfect. Rita nodded. She seemed to have an idea of what he was thinking. Water whipped forward, grabbing Flynn's arms and legs and anchoring itself in the ground. Atlas sent his electricity through it, Flynn spasmed. He tried to fight it, fire sporadically shooting out of him, but luckily Atlas had been right, shocking him kept him form focusing on anything, especially with his mind already in turmoil. He fell to his knees. “Fang!” Atlas called. Fang leapt back and rocks rose and latched themselves around Flynn's neck and legs, holding him in place. “Gale!” Gale called forth spinning winds around him, creating an orb of razor wind to keep him from leaving even if he broke free of all their other magic.  
“What now?” Gale yelled over the wind.  
“Now I talk to him!” Atlas called back.  
“You sure that's a good idea?” Rita asked.  
“No,” Atlas replied, “but when is anything we do ever a good idea?” He looked to Gale, “Let me through.”  
Gale nodded and a pathway was made through the wind for Atlas to walk through. It closed again once he was inside. It was quieter than he expected in here. Calm. Flynn was glaring at him with eyes that weren't his. Atlas knelt in front of him. Flynn tried to bite him but the rock restraints kept him from moving too far.  
“Flynn,” Atlas said. “I knows you're in there. Come back to us. We need you.”  
Flynn screamed and screeched, his teeth bared and clenched like a cornered dog, spit spilling down his chin.   
“Wake up, Flynn!”  
Fire shot from Flynn's mouth right into Atlas's face. He fell back to avoid being burned, it startled him- he lost control of his magic. Flynn took that second to melt through the rocks and burn away the water. Atlas stood as Flynn did, they were face to face, but now Flynn was free. Flynn lashed out and Atlas moved in. He took a claw to the back, but it didn't seem too deep. He grabbed Flynn's head, just under the horns. “Flynn, stop being a jackass!” He slammed his forehead into Flynn's- a risky move with the horns framing his head. They connected, it hurt, but Atlas didn't care. Flynn's eyes were wide, his pupils were round, his mouth was agape. The horns turned to ash, his arms and legs returned to normal, the cracks in his skin sealing up. Atlas was looking at Flynn again, tears streaming from his eyes.  
“Atlas... I am so... sorry...” Flynn managed that much before he lost consciousness and fell into Atlas's arms.  
Atlas hugged him. “It's okay. So am I.”  
The winds fell. “Oh thank the Diamond it worked!” Gale exclaimed.  
Everyone rushed to the them. Flynn was out cold but he was alive. Atlas could barely see anything around him, but he heard Fang and Ash start to growl and looked up. They were surrounded by guards and guardians. Just great.

The guards lead them through Ruban. They had talked their way into bringing their mounts, if not riding them. Flynn was draped over Storm as Atlas lead both horses. They weren't about to let Ruban stable their animals when they were hostile like this.  
They were allowed into the Magister chambers, mounts and all. “I see you all have returned,” one of the magisters said, clearly unhappy.  
“Yeah, we accomplished our mission,” Atlas said, “turns out the thing was a demon. Oh, and there's more of them so we kind of have to be on our way.”  
“A Demon?” The magister asked. “You think I would allow you to leave after telling me this? You have destroyed a piece of the outer wall, we would have you executed were you not another city's guardians. The street rat, however, will stay with us. We will study this... Demon ourselves.  
“Not gonna happen,” Atlas sighed. He didn't have time for debate with these assholes, he was tired and sore.  
“Excuse me!?” the magister blustered. “You do not have a choice in the matter!”  
Atlas scratched his head. “Look, I just had to fight my demon-possessed best friend, my zeppelin was destroyed, and my nice new clothes I just put on are covered in blood, so I am in no mood to tiptoe around you high-and-mighty bastards right now. So either you let us go with Flynn so we can get the rest of these demons and pretty much save the world while you sit on your rich ass, or Fang starts eating people. Which is a thing that she actually does.”  
“I will not be spoken to this way!” The magister exclaimed. “Guards!”  
Atlas looked around at the guards, swords raised. He didn't move. “I recognize at least six of these guards from out front. They've seen what we can do, something tells me they won't want to fight us.” Sure enough, several of the guards sheathed their swords, though not without a great deal of embarrassment on their faces.  
“I order you!” The magister yelled.  
“I am done playing games!” Atlas growled. He gave Fang a look. Fang nodded. The ground started to rumble, then the building, heck, the whole damn city for all he knew. It was like an earthquake, but Atlas and the others were unmoved as the guards struggled to stand.  
“You think you can intimidate us with this!” The magister said, clearly terrified.  
Atlas raised an eyebrow. The air was cooling It was getting colder and colder, rapidly so. Frost began to form on the armor of the guards. Then the wind began to howl through the building, it tore away the veils in front of the magisters, revealing their humanity to their followers below. They were nothing but a bunch of angry old men, each one more terrified than the next. Fang raised an arm, then dropped it. The room stilled and the magisters' balconies slid down the wall to the floor. Atlas approached, Fang and Ash close behind. He looked at the head magister, the one who had always been talking. He was nearly crying, snot was dangling from his big ugly nose. “We'll be going now.”  
“L-leave! Leave now! Take the bastard street rat with you!” The magister howled, somehow trying to still make it seem like he was in charge.  
Good enough. Atlas turned and left. Fang stayed for a moment. She sniffed the magister, Ash glaring at him from behind her. “Guardian street rat,” she said. She smiled, showing her fangs. “You smell good.” Ash snapped at the magister. His jaw closing millimeters from his nose. The magister jumped back. Fang could smell he had released his bowels. Good. She mounted Ash and left with the others.


	22. The Old Guardian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flynn and the others meet an old Guardian who teaches Flynn a few things

Chapter 22: The Old Guardian

“Is everything alright?” Damun asked.  
Flynn looked up and paused. He nodded. He had just been staring at his food, not eating. Something seemed wrong... like he didn't belong here, like Damun didn't belong here. How long had they been on the road? Their adventure seemed hazy. He felt like he had done something wrong somehow. Hurt people he cared about.  
“You can tell me if something's bothering you, you know,” Damun smiled.  
Flynn looked away. “I don't know... I feel like... I hurt someone. Like I did something wrong, but I'm not sure what. I just have this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach...”  
Damun put his hand on Flynn's shoulder. “It wasn't your fault, Flynn, you know that. Don't blame yourself, kid.”  
Flynn gave him a look. “What wasn't my fault?”  
“Just remember that, okay,” Damun said. He seemed sad, like something was wrong that only he knew about. “No matter what you want to blame yourself for, don't. I know you, and you would never hurt anyone on purpose. You're a good kid. You try your best to save people, and in the end that's all you really can do as a guardian. Remember that.”  
Why did he keep telling him to remember things? Was he going somewhere? Flynn didn't know why but suddenly he felt like he was. Where was Damun going? Why did Flynn feel like crying all of the sudden? Why did his chest hurt? There was a lump in his throat and he didn't know why.  
Damun sighed. “I wish I could tell you everything you need to know... But I really don't have time. You have a lot ahead of you, but I'm confident you'll get through it. You'll figure everything out, you have smart friends. Strong friends. Loyal friends. Hold on to them with everything you have, kid.”   
“Don't go!” Flynn blurted out. Why? Why did he say that? Damun was sitting right there, he didn't seem like he was about to leave, but Flynn felt like he had to do everything in his power to keep him here. He grabbed his arm and held tightly. “Please! Please stay!”  
Damun gave him a sad smile. “You know I can't, Flynn.” He tousled his hair and rested his forehead on the top of Flynn's head. “I miss you, kid. But I'm always going to be watching over you, though I don't think you need me anymore.”  
“I do!” Flynn yelled, tears finally falling down his face. “I need you! I'm scared! I'm so scared and I never know what to do!”  
“Trust your gut,” Damun grinned. “And keep your chin up. Always remember to smile.”  
He always said that. Why couldn't he just let Flynn be sad? Flynn wanted to say something, but then he realized he was gone. All that was left was the smell of cinders in the air.

Flynn opened his eyes. He smelled the campfire and saw the stars overhead. He and Atlas had spent so many nights staring at those stars together and dreaming. When Fang looked at them she saw the images that the slaves of Emerala assigned to the clusters of stars. Rita could talk endlessly about books she had read regarding what each star meant, and Gale had a thousand stories from Diaem about how the greatest Guardians became stars when they died and returned to the Diamond. He tried to sit up and his whole body screamed in pain. That wasn't happening, at least not yet. He turned his head, he could manage that much at the least. He saw his friends sitting around the fire. They seemed sad. Worried. Gale and Atlas were shirtless, Rita was wrapping Atlas's back and shoulder in bandages, and Gale had bandages around his abdomen. Fang was scraped up but was sitting quietly, waiting her turn. Flynn felt a pain in his chest and his breath caught in his throat. Everything was coming back to him- he'd done that to them. It was his fault. Ifrit had- where was Ifrit? He could feel her presence but she was being quiet. He didn't mind, he didn't much feel like talking to her right now.   
“Hey... guys...” Flynn croaked out. His throat was raw and aching as if he had been screaming. They all stopped what they were doing and looked at him. He wanted to apologize to them, tell them he was sorry for all the things he did.   
Atlas bolted to him before Rita could even finish bandaging him, stopping just short of grabbing Flynn, realizing that would only result in immense physical pain for both of them. Atlas smiled. “You finally woke up.”  
Gale and Fang approached, as Rita stood she winced, though she tired to hide it, Flynn could see the burn on her leg beneath the hole in her pants. She should have taken care of herself... of course she wouldn't before the others were fixed up. “Welcome back to the land of the living, buddy,” Gale grinned.  
“You've been out for a couple of hours,” Rita said, sitting next to him.  
“I'm sorry,” he said groggily. “I... hurt all of you...”  
Gale snorted. “We're all tough, we can take it, don't worry about us.”  
“Besides,” Atlas frowned, “It wasn't you, it was Ifrit.”  
Flynn did his best to shake his head. “I was the one who let her in. She only did what she had warned me she would do.” He could feel Ifrit grimace.  
“Stop blaming yourself!” Atlas snapped. He was mad.  
“We all knew the risk we were taking inviting a demon to join our group, we were prepared for the worst, at least now we know what we're up against,” Rita said.  
“Did I hurt anyone else?” Flynn asked.  
“No, Gale made sure everyone cleared the area,” Atlas assured him. “You did take out the masked men though.”  
“Where are we?” Flynn frowned. It only now dawned on him that they weren't in Ruban.  
“In the fields north of the city,” Gale replied, “the Magisters wanted to keep you there, but that didn't really work out for them.”  
“What happened?” Flynn asked.  
“Atlas brought the At-sass is what happened,” Gale laughed. Atlas rolled his eyes.  
Gale helped Flynn sit up, his whole body ached but he couldn't just lay around forever. “Maybe you should have let them take me,” Flynn sighed. “I have Ifrit, I did my part, you guys could go on and-”  
“Oh, shut up,” Rita said, smacking him in the back of the head. “Don't act like we don't need you, dummy.”  
“But-”  
“No buts,” Rita smiled. “You're just as important to the team as any one of us.”  
“I'm not as strong as Fang,” Flynn insisted, “I'm not as smart as Atlas, I can't use magic as well as you, and I don't have the skills Gale does, so what is it exactly that I bring to the table!?” That wasn't really what Flynn was upset about, but he needed to blame himself somehow, put himself down, since they wouldn't let him blame himself for hurting them. He was pathetic.  
Gale shrugged. “You've got a sword.” Flynn couldn't help but laugh.  
Rita put her hand on his shoulder. “Joking aside, sure, maybe you aren't as good at all those things as some of us, but you're still pretty good. You' re a better fighter than Atlas, better with magic than Gale, more skilled in combat than me, and better at communicating than Fang is, you're fairly good at just about everything, and that's nothing to scoff at.”  
“You make sure I don't make too many stupid decisions,” Atlas added.  
“And you spar with Fang, and you're always willing to help with chores whether it's your turn or not,” Rita said.  
“And you always listen when I start telling silly stories, and sometimes you even laugh at my awesome jokes,” Gale grinned. “Basically, what we're all trying to say is that we're super in love with you and you can never leave us because the whole team would fall apart. In fact I'm petitioning to start a Flynn fan club. So far Fang and I are the only ones to sign up but Storm also ate the newsletter, so that might explain the pitiful turnout.”  
Flynn laughed. “Dammit, guys, can't you just let me feel shitty about myself for a minute or two?”  
“Nope!” Gale smirked, spreading his arms out and pulling everyone into a group hug.

Flynn had trouble sleeping that night again. Ifrit's silence bothered him, and he had been out for a few hours, he wasn't exactly tired. Gale sat next to him. Everyone else was sleeping. “You doing okay?” He asked.  
Flynn nodded. “I'm just not really tired.”  
Gale looked at the stars. “I'm next, huh?”  
Flynn looked at him. He looked worried under his permanent smile. “I'm sure you'll be fine.”  
Gale looked at him. He could see a hint of fear in his eyes, but it flickered away as quickly as it had appeared. “What's it like?”  
Flynn took a deep breath. It was hard to explain. “Imagine... another person living in your head. But in my case that person wants nothing more than for me to hate myself. She can't read my thoughts but she can see my memories and she sees and hears and feels and tastes everything I do.”  
“Everything?” Gale frowned. “Bye-bye private time, huh?”  
Flynn chuckled. “But despite all that... It's not all bad. It's not... lonely anymore, if that makes sense. There's a certain camaraderie, at least that I feel. We might not like each other, but we're sharing a body, so we share something to protect. She gives me power and I let her see the world. I guess... In the end, it's scary, sure, but I don't hate it.”  
Gale smiled. “You'd be surprised at how comforting that is. If you ever need to talk, I'm always open to listen.”  
“Thanks,” Flynn smiled back. He felt calmer. His heart had stopped racing. He could feel Ifrit clawing around. She wasn't happy about something. “I think I'll try to get some sleep now, I appreciate the talk.”  
“Anytime,” Gale grinned.

“You are a fool,” Ifrit said once Flynn had started to fall asleep.  
“What now?” Flynn sighed.  
“Camaraderie? Between us? I feel no such thing, you are but a vessel to me, boy.”  
“If you say so,” Flynn shrugged.  
“Are you ignoring me, boy?”  
“A little bit,” Flynn affirmed.  
“How dare you!”  
“I'm tired, Ifrit, let me sleep.”  
“I will take over your body in your sleep and kill your friends!”  
“No, you won't.”  
“What makes you think that?”  
“For one, you can't,” Flynn said. “Second, you'd feel bad.”  
“I would not.”  
“You like me.”  
“I loathe you.”  
“That's too bad.”  
“Why do you not hate me!?” Ifrit insisted. “I took you over, hurt your friends, and yet I feel no hate from you, why?”  
There it was. What she was really upset about. “You were only doing what you told me you would. If I let hate consume me you would take over. I agreed to it in our pact. If anything I'm disappointed in myself for letting my emotions get the better of me. I may not trust you, but I certainly don't hate you.”  
There was a long silence. Finally Ifrit spoke again. “You are a fool.”  
“Yeah, I guess I am.”

The next day they arrived at the same town that Flynn and Damun had come to the second day of their adventure. Their last day. It brought back more memories than Flynn would have liked. The town was so familiar, so unchanged despite everything being so different for Flynn in his life.  
The first thing they did was head to the tavern- after the time in the desert and quickly getting kicked out of Ruban it had been too long since they'd had a real meal or a soft bed. After they had eaten they were approached by the innkeeper, who seemed cautious. “A-are you the Guardian Ruban sent to help us?” she asked, looking to Flynn.   
He wasn't sure what to say, he wasn't, but it didn't mean he couldn't help. Of course, these people wanted a true Guardian, and after what happened in Ruban he wasn't sure he qualified anymore. He opened his mouth to speak, but someone else answered for him. “Yes, he is,” it wasn't the voice of one of his friends, it was gruff, gravelly, cold, “he's my partner.” It was an older man, his red and grey hair tied back in a ponytail, his beard a messy mix of the two colors, his eyes worn and weary. He had removed his hood but Flynn realized he had been sitting at a corner table since they walked in, a technique he and Damun had used back when they first came here.  
“Then you'll take care of the Hisshounds for us?” she smiled.  
The old Guardian nodded. “Of course, ma'am. Now head back to tending bar, seems you have a bit of a line backing up. I have matters to discuss with my partner.”  
She nodded and left happily. The old Guardian sat down in an empty chair to join them. “Okay, I'll be the first to say it, I guess,” Atlas said, “who the heck are you, dude?”  
“A Guardian of Ruban,” he said, “name's Garth. I was sent here to take care of those Hisshounds.” Flynn had heard of Hisshounds from Damun, they hunted in packs, usually kept to themselves, but when they neared civilization it was dangerous. They were smarter than most monsters and their weakest was still twice as deadly as an average wolf. To send one Guardian to take out a pack of them? He had to be capable, that much was clear.  
“Alright, Garth,” Gale said, “and what, may I ask, has brought you to our little group? Besides our overwhelming combined attractiveness being just too much to stay away from.”  
Not so much as a smile from the old Guardian. “I recognized the boy. You were the street rat that defeated the Beast and became a Guardian, right? The one that left with Damun.”  
“How did you-” Flynn started.  
“I was in the city when you returned. I only left on this mission two days ago.” So he wasn't there to see Flynn's rampage, that was a good thing, he supposed, but suddenly he felt like a liar. Garth sat back in his chair. “Hard to believe Damun's really dead. Whatever killed him must have been quite the powerhouse.”  
“You knew him?” Flynn asked. Garth nodded. “Still... after all that time you must have assumed the worst...”  
Garth laughed. “Kid, that wasn't the least out of place for that crazy bastard.”  
“Being gone for over a year didn't seem odd?” Flynn frowned.  
“I suppose once he met you he calmed down a bit,” Garth sighed, “but when he was younger he used to disappear all the time. Hell, he was barely a Guardian a few months before he ran off and disappeared for- what was it- five years or so? Everyone assumed he was dead, then one day he just shows back up again like nothing happened, then over the next few years he would just run off for months at a time without a word. It wasn't till he found a street rat to take care of that he finally settled down and stayed in the city for any length of time.”  
Flynn was amazed, despite how close they were there was still so much he didn't know about Damun. “Not to interrupt story time,” Atlas said, “but you have still yet to tell us why you've recruited Flynn to help you fight off some monsters.”  
“Sorry, let myself get carried away with the past, that'll happen when you get old,” Garth chuckled. “I wanted to see what Damun's student was capable of. How much he'd taught you.”  
Flynn frowned. “Not much. He died not far from here. We'd only been out a day or two.”  
“Unfortunate,” Garth sighed. “But knowing Damun I'm sure he taught you something. Nothing is useless.”  
“Back in Ruban he taught me swordplay,” Flynn said, “and here... his mind returned to that day. He taught me to listen. That every piece of information is useful. We listened to thee townspeople.”  
“And what did you hear?”  
It was over a year ago but Flynn did his best to remember. “We learned that Tymun has the best cabbages for miles, and... Kara was cheating on her husband with the nighttime bartender. That the month prior a troupe of masked performers passed through, and the month before that there was a group of mercenaries who stayed for... three- no, two nights. And that cattle and seeds the next town over were overpriced, but they still got more business since their town was bigger.” Flynn was amazed at how easily the information came back to him.  
Garth nodded. “Good, nice to see you remember all that so well.”  
Rita frowned. “How could you possibly know that all of that was really what he heard way back then?”  
Garth grinned. “Because I listen, too. I heard Kara and her husband broke up, and she's been staying at the Inn most nights. They still talk of the troupe of masked men, not often they get entertainment around here, not to mention the boy with the electric circus.” He gave Atlas a look. “The mercenaries returned a few months ago, quite a number less after a run-in with some nasty monsters and bandits, and believe it or not, Tymun, the cattle and seeds are all booming now that the next town over has been overtaken by the Hisshounds. They might want them gone but the townspeople can't say that those monsters never did anything for them.”  
“Amazing,” Rita smiled.  
“It's good to know he gave you the basics,” Garth said, “but you've still got a lot to learn. Help me out with the mission and I can show you a thing or two.”  
“I'd be happy to,” Flynn nodded. “But... why are you so willing to help me?”  
Garth shrugged. “Damun was a friend of mine. Besides, I'm old, I want to start teaching kids what I know, makes us old coots feel important.” He wasn't so old compared to the Elders of Diaem, or even Ruban's Magisters, but for a Guardian he must have been ancient- it wasn't typically a long-lived profession. “It's getting late,” Garth said, “we'll start first thing tomorrow. Meet me here at daybreak.”

“I don't trust him as far as I can throw him,” Atlas said once they were in their room. Flynn, Atlas and Gale were staying in one room while Rita and Fang stayed in the one across the hall.  
“You don't trust anyone,” Gale sighed. “You probably accuse your reflection of stealing your pants.”  
“I'm cautious, okay?” Atlas grumbled. “It's weird for an old Guardian to just approach some kid and ask him to join him on a mission. After what happened in Ruban I just think we should be careful. For all we know he could have been sent to bring Flynn back to the city.”  
“If I can learn things form him I'd like to,” Flynn said. “Damun never got to teach me much about being a Guardian.”  
“Alright, alright,” Atlas sighed, “I won't complain, but I will keep an eye on him. Oh, and just in case you hadn't thought about it, try not to mention the Demon. Might be a turn-off.”  
“Don't worry, Atlas, I wasn't planning on it,” Flynn said, rolling his eyes.  
“He is quite powerful,” Ifrit interjected.  
“Garth?”  
“Yes. If he had ever happened upon my lair I certainly would have accepted him as my vessel.”  
“Maybe I'll ask him to trade Rubies, I'm sure you guys would get along great.”  
“No, I would prefer to stay with you. He may be more powerful but he has fewer years left, you are young, this promises me a long journey, and ample opportunity to claim your body for my own for good. Were I to swipe his body from him he would likely die from the simple shock of it and I would be left a Ruby in the middle of nowhere.”  
“Glad you appreciate me,” Flynn sighed.

The next morning the group met up with Garth. They mounted up and headed out. Garth rode a large, powerful brown horse, it seemed even older than Shadow and wasn't the least bit spooked by the Direwolf, Tiger and Griffin riding beside it.  
“The Hisshounds have been hitting the town in small groups so far, mostly stealing crops and shiny objects, there have been a couple wounded but so far no deaths,” Garth explained. “My guess is they're still feeding on the corpses from the last town they took out, they don't want to kill anyone here yet because they'll rot before they can eat them. It's only a matter of time before the death toll starts to pile up, though.”  
“I was hungry a minute ago,” Gale said, “now, not so much.”  
“We can assume the Hisshounds are somewhere between the two towns,” the old Guardian continued, ignoring Gale, “that's still a lot of area. We'll need to track them. Normally for a mission like this I'd bring a dog, but when tracking Hisshounds you'll just end up with a dead dog. Luckily, you can train yourself to find these things too.” He dismounted and the others followed suit. They walked to a small brownish-red patch in the grass. He picked up a shred of fabric. “Cloth. Same kind that one of the victims' pants were made of. The blood likely belongs to her. It's dried, a few days old from the smell, the day of the last attack, I would guess. Hisshounds aren't known for their cleanliness, we should be able to follow the scent of the blood.”  
Fang sniffed the cloth and nodded. Fang probed forward on all fours, sniffing and looking around.  
“Looks like you have a bloodhound anyway,” Garth said. “I was expecting the Direwolf, not its rider.”  
“Fang surprises people,” Gale said, “It's kind of her thing.”  
“Wait until we run into a giant monster,” Rita smirked.  
“Let's follow the kid,” Garth said, mounting his horse once again.

The rest of the day was spent tracking the Hisshounds, Garth taught them to find tracks and recognize a trail and the many aspects of it. Flynn did his best to understand it all, but this was really more Fang and Gale's department. Fang could smell and hear the slightest thing, and Gale was always quick to notice something out of place.  
“Judging from the trail we'll probably catch up with them tomorrow,” Garth said once they were all seated around the campfire. “So I've got a couple of techniques I'd like to show you before then, Flynn.”  
“Of course,” Flynn nodded.  
“First,” Garth said, “Atlas, take off your shirt.”  
“Woah!” Atlas exclaimed. “Um, I am super not okay with the sudden turn this conversation took!”  
“You're injured,” Garth said.  
Atlas looked at him skeptically. “How could you possibly know that?”  
“I can smell the blood, for one,” he explained, “and the bandages and herbs used to heal it. And you've been avoiding moving your torso as much as you can. When you do move it there's a slight wince.”  
“Okay, you're good,” Atlas sighed, “why does this lead to me stripping?”  
“We're going to heal you,” Garth said. Atlas frowned, but he complied and removed his shirt. Garth removed the bandages to reveal the wounds on Atlas's back. The claw marks didn't go too deep, and it was healing, but it was still an ugly wound, and Flynn's heart sank seeing what he did. “There are two types of magic granted by the Ruby,” Garth explained. “Black magic and White magic. Black magic is simple, the manipulation of fire, basic magic that is primarily used for damage or utility. White magic is more complicated. It's the manipulation of the body. The Ruby allows us to mend wounds to muscle and skin.” Flynn had seen Azar use the ability when they fought him, and when Ifrit had had control he had done it himself, but he could never quite figure out how it was done. “It's a dangerous technique if you aren't careful, but when used properly it can save lives.”  
“Dangerous?” Atlas asked. “Suddenly I feel like I don't want to be the guinea pig for Flynn to learn new magic.”  
“Watch,” Garth said, ignoring Atlas's protest. He placed a finger on the end of one of the three long wounds. His finger glowed and as he moved it along the cut the flesh began to seal itself. When he was done it was like there had never been a wound at all. “You need to be very careful. If you don't know what you're doing you could just end up hurting someone more. Imagine that flesh and flames are one in the same. Skin, muscle, they are all just fire in a different form, something you bend to your will. Do not conjure flames, you do not need them, the flesh is your fire.” That was why it never worked. He had been thinking of it as sealing the wounds with fire, not manipulating the skin itself.  
“Should I try?” Flynn asked.  
“If you think you're ready,” Garth nodded.  
Flynn took a deep breath and placed his fingers on Atlas's wound. Flesh and fire are one.  
“Do not try and do too much,” Garth cautioned. “That is the easiest way to fail. Focus only on closing the wound, without a full grasp of anatomy you won't want to do more than that. The human body is a wondrous thing, it will heal itself, you are only giving it a boost.”  
Flynn concentrated. Only a little. Just seal the wound. The skin began to close, steam was pouring from Flynn's fingers and the sealed skin. “It's like, really hot,” Atlas said through gritted teeth, “Is it supposed to burn?”  
“It's normal for someone who's new to it,” Garth assured, “It takes years of practice to fully differentiate fire and flesh. The job will still get done and you'll be no worse off.” Flynn finished closing the wound, he felt exhausted. “Good,” Garth smiled. “You did an excellent job for your first time. Practice as often as you get the chance and you'll improve in no time.”  
Flynn was tired but he wanted to learn as much as he could. He stood up. “What's next?”  
Garth smiled. “Ever eager, eh? I like it. Very well, the next trick I teach you will be the last. For this one we'll need some space, come with me.”  
They walked out a ways, the campfire and the others were still in sight but well out of earshot. “This is a technique I'm not sure I want to teach you at all,” Garth said, “but once someone learns White magic it's only a matter of time before they try this themselves, and I'd prefer you learn how to do it properly and the dangers of it.”  
“I'm ready,” Flynn nodded.  
Garth smiled. “Good.” He took a breath. “Healing is not the only property of White magic, it can also be used for physical augmentation. The most basic technique is what we call 'warm-up'. This simply heats your muscles, allowing you to reach a better physical state for combat quicker. There's nothing dangerous about this so long as you do it properly, your body warms naturally when you're active anyway, so all you're doing is speeding that process. Going past this, however, gets dangerous. Once you begin truly augmenting your muscles you run the risk of overexerting yourself. We divide this technique into four ranks, each one more powerful but also far more dangerous than the last. Rank one is Peak, allowing you to reach peak physical condition under normal circumstances. This is the moment when you are enveloped in a battle, pumping with energy and you feel stronger, faster, smarter, even for just a few minutes. Peak allows you to channel that strength at any point in time at your own will. This has a minimal risk compared to the others, but the longer you use the technique the more dangerous it becomes, you may be able to augment your musculature but the rest of your body may not be able to keep up. Peak is considered safe to use in short bursts, and not too often.   
“The next rank is Adrenaline. This channels the strength in a moment of crisis, most commonly linked to a mother finding a burst of strength to do impossible things when her child is in danger. Using Adrenaline allows you to use this superhuman strength at will and for length, rather than one quick burst. Now things get dangerous, however. Using Adrenaline has a much higher chance to have negative effects on your body, and if used for too long or too often could result in serious damage to you. It should only be used in the most critical of situations, and even then not for long.  
“The next two levels should really be avoided at all costs, but I think it's better to explain the dangers to you rather than let you try to push yourself and discover the hard way. Rank three we call One-hundred Percent. As it sounds this lets you call upon the full potential of your body, pushing past the realm even of an adrenaline rush to a point that your own self-preservation instinct would never allow you to go. Pushing yourself this far can have immediate repercussions, and could just as well cripple you instantly as it could give you power. Since you are using magic and not just your physical abilities it's possible you could go for a short length of time before your body gives out, but I wouldn't recommend using this under any circumstances.  
“Finally, Rank four is known as Overheat. This should never, under any circumstances, be used. This goes past pushing your body to its limits, and begins truly altering yourself with magic, adding muscle mass to go past your body's one-hundred percent. Using this technique could instantly kill you, crushing your bones with your own muscles and tearing your skin apart. If it is used successfully each second you spend in it could kill you. If you use Overheat and you come back with only broken bones you're lucky.”  
“I understand,” Flynn said. Suddenly he wasn't so excited anymore.  
“I'll teach you Warm-up, the rest should teach themselves after that,” Garth smiled. “Just remember to be careful.”

The next day they finally found the Hisshound pack. There were dozens of them, they had made their home near a large rock formation. It was like a whole community living together. Flynn could see the treasures they stole, rings and necklaces, simply lying on the ground or being played with. They didn't look so sinister right now. They looked like wolves, but rather than fur they had scales, their teeth were longer and sharper, and carried a deadly poison. Their tails whipped around like snakes, and apparently could shatter bone if you were hit hard enough with one.  
“So what's the plan?” Atlas asked.  
“There's no sneaking up on Hisshounds,” Garth said, “they likely already know we're here, but we're not posing a threat so they haven't attacked. The only way to take out a Hisshound is to fight it head on. They won't have it any other way.”  
“Do we need to kill all of them?” Flynn asked. “I'm sure not all of them go out to hunt people, surely some stay home and don't bother anyone, and there are babies here, too.”  
“Hisshounds are smart,” Garth said, “we leave them and they'll seek revenge. And those babies will grow up to be just as dangerous as their parents.” Garth sighed. “It's not a Guardian's job to have strong moral character, unfortunately, it's to protect the people. Sometimes that means making tough decisions, and doing something so that no one else has to.”  
Flynn nodded gravely.  
Three Hisshounds fell to Gale's arrows before they even knew they were being attacked. Flynn, Fang and Garth entered the fray as the Hisshounds ran forward. It was far from fighting wolves, they could predict his moves, and one bite and he was done for. Luckily they still didn't expect fire, which allowed him to startle a few and take them out. Fang and Garth were taking them out easily and Gale, Rita and Atlas struck while they were distracted. Flynn felt the weight of uselessness hanging on his shoulders. He had used Warm-up, Garth had said it was common for Guardians to use it whenever they entered a battle, and it did help, he could feel the difference, but compared to the others he didn't feel like he was doing much to help. They could have taken care of it without him.  
“I'll lend you my strength,” Ifrit said out of nowhere.  
“What?”  
“In return for the time I spent in your body I will allow you a small bit of strength to finish these beasts off.”  
“No thanks.”  
“You would refuse me, boy? You would rather be useless than to take my charity?”  
“I don't need your help.”  
“You do not hate me...”  
“But I do fear you.” Flynn's hand was trembling on his sword. He might not blame her, he might not hate her, but he was scared of her power, what she could do, what he had done to his friends when she was in control.   
“Very well, boy. Do as you wish.”  
Ifrit kept quiet after that. It wasn't long before the Hisshounds were finished off. Not that they had kept count, but if they had Flynn knew he had taken out the least. He didn't want to let it bother him but it did.   
“The job is done,” Garth said, approaching Flynn and the others. “I'll need to head back to the town and let them know the Hisshounds have been taken care of. Then back to Ruban for the reward. I suppose you'll all be continuing on your mission, then?”  
“Yes, we still have a lot to do,” Flynn said.  
“Good. Well, I'll keep quiet about working with you all, don't worry,” Garth smiled.  
Flynn frowned. “How did you know-”  
“Don't take me for a fool,” Garth said. “You don't get as old as I am in this profession without being damn good at it. I can tell there's something off about your Ruby. I'm not sure what, but I doubt it's something you want the Magisters getting wind of.”  
Flynn smiled. “Thank you.”  
“And I'll keep an eye out for those masked men while I'm at it,” he grinned, mounting his horse. “Magisters may not be telling us about it, but guards talk. The people know there's a danger out there, we'll be prepared when it comes.”  
Flynn nodded sternly to him and he rode off.  
Gale made a sudden noise of exclamation.  
“What?” Rita asked.  
“I totally missed an awesome opportunity!” he whined. “Back when he was saying he was friends with Damun, back in the Inn, I totally should have asked if he was Damun's Old Flame! Get it? Because he's old. And a fire-”  
“You are an idiot,” Atlas groaned.


	23. Day Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look at the daily lives of the mounts

Chapter 23: Day Off

The green all around her, the wind whipping past her face and sending her mane whirling through the air, the exhilaration of running unbound and unbidden, how could Storm not want to run and run and run and never stop? She loved these plains and she was glad they had returned to them. The desert was hot and dry and it was hard to move there, she didn't like it much. They were somewhere between the flying human-herd and her own home. There were still horses and zebras running around but occasionally they saw the large, feathery monsters with teeth and horns as well. Shadow was always giving her looks and following her when she ran off. He was worried about her making herself a target for predators if she ran off too far. He always acted like he couldn't keep up with her, as if because he was getting old he would fall behind, but she knew too well, she might be younger but he was bigger and stronger. She was certainly bigger than when they had set out but she would never be his size.   
Days like this were nice, when Flynn and the others rested for a day to let the mounts relax, of course she just spent her time running anyway. At least Shadow got to rest. Especially after all of the scary things they had been through recently it was good to stop for awhile and take in the world. Between the people that almost looked like humans but had odd white faces that didn't move, and when Flynn had turned all fiery and attacked his friends, things had been rough. Ever since then Flynn seemed different to her. The way he rode was different. He seemed worried about something. And his hand when he petted her seemed warmer, but not in a comforting way, more like it could burst into flames at any moment. She didn't like when Flynn was worried, it made her worried. Maybe he needed to run more, she was always tense when she was locked up in a human-herd and wasn't allowed to run whenever she wanted to.

Talon looked down across the fields. Such unsuspecting prey. It was like they weren't expecting a griffin to swoop down and pick them up. Back home the birds he hunted were on guard, they put up a fight. That made the hunt fun. Here the prey was bigger, tastier, but it never fought back. He enjoyed seeing the world with Gale, but it was odd for there to be so much ground. The sky above looked endless and so far away from down here. And he missed Paige and the Sage. The humans he traveled with were nice, but he had known Paige since he was a newborn, they had grown up together, he, Gale and Paige. Talon saw a plump looking horse grazing, easy prey- not that there was much else. He veered right and dived towards the oblivious beast. As he neared he thought of Storm and Shadow, he pulled back and flew towards the clouds again. It was a silly thought, it's not like they knew that horse, but he had a soft spot for those two, it seemed wrong to eat their kind. If there were any direwolves out here he wouldn't mind sinking his claws into one of those. He didn't always get along with Ash. He was such an Alpha, wanted to make the others his pack, but sorry wolf, griffins don't have packs, and they sure as heck don't have an Alpha. He was a solitary hunter and he wanted to keep it that way.   
As he flew further out he saw some feathery beasts, some with sharp teeth and gnarly claws, others with horns or armored hides, and others that were simply too massive to exist. He was sure he could take the tri-horned beast with the colorful frills, but it was a little too big for him to carry, and he didn't want to make himself a target by taking his meal out in the open. Then he saw one of the smaller predatory ones had strayed from the pack. This one had claws and sharp teeth, it might be fun. He dove in, it didn't know what hit it, his talons dug into its back, he was holding its spine in his grip. He twisted hard and snapped it before the beast could scream. Too easy. Maybe he should have come from the front so it would have had a chance. He felt a disturbance in the air and flew forward as quickly as he could while dragging the carcass. He looked back and saw one of the huge beasts with the giant head and tiny arms, it snapped at his meal, taking off the tail in its mouth. Talon was a little annoyed, that was his food! He felt another tug on the corpse, he looked down, it was more of the tiny angry ones, like the one he had killed, they were trying to pull him down. Just great, there goes his easy prey. He had wanted a challenge but this was a bit much. The big one bit at him again, he let go of his would-be food and dodged, and just for good measure dug his talons into the eye of the giant beast. Serves him right for ruining his lunch. The little ones were jumping at him now and the big one was not happy about the assault on his face. Best to retreat while he still could.   
He flew up and away, they were following, but he was much faster, he would lose them in no time. He saw another horse below, it was running straight towards them without a care, it probably didn't even realize they were there, well that would probably distract them for awhile. Then it dawned on him. That was Storm. Crap. He swooped down and landed in front of her, she reared back, startled. He screeched at her, hoping she would get the hint and run. Now she saw the dinos closing in. She whinnied in dismay and turned to run. Talon flew at them, he had to stop them now. He looped around to their flank and tackled the lead raptor to the ground, tearing into him with his beak. The others jumped on him, but he was too quick, sliding out and clawing at the other two that had fallen at him. Only two? Just great, he killed one and distracted two, meanwhile the other ten and the giant Tyranno were still running after Storm. Guess a tasty horse took precedent over the annoying griffin that clawed your eye out. He was going to need help with this. He didn't like it but he was going to need to find Ash.

Ash laid in the grass beside Shiva, he liked Shiva, she was strong. Not as strong as him, but she was strong. Not as strong as Fang. Fang was the strongest, stronger than him, stronger than any other human, she was the Alpha. It never made sense to him why she listened to the other, weaker humans when they told her to do things, she was Alpha, they should listen to her. It wasn't his place to question her methods, though. He was her pack, it was his job to keep her safe so she didn't have to fight when it was unnecessary. Lying around without her made him feel oddly naked. He was so used to nights when she would curl up her tiny frame on his back, or when it was cold how she would find warmth under his fur. They had been together as long as he could remember, he had been but a pup and she was little more than a child when she first came to his pack.   
Shiva was moving now, she nudged him. He got up, she wanted to play. She jumped on him and they rolled around, she playfully nipped at his neck, he bit back, just a little harder, he needed to at least assert dominance. They began to fight, no malice behind it, but it wasn't exactly a game either. It was healthy to fight like this, if he became weak then it was only right that she take his place as Alpha of the animals. The horses weren't fighters, they needed to protect them. Shadow was big and powerful but he had no claws or fangs, his battle capabilities were limited. And then there was Talon. He rarely gave Ash the time of day. The griffin was a problem. He was... strong. Very strong. He could fly, which seemed like cheating, but it was undeniable that he was strong regardless. He may even be stronger than Ash, but he wouldn't know, because the stupid bird refused to fight him. If he was indeed stronger than Ash then they should all know, if he deserved the spot he should have it, being led by the strongest kept them all safe. Talon was endangering them all by running off by himself and refusing to be a part of the pack.  
Speaking of the fool. He was approaching. Ash pinned Shiva and nuzzled her neck, ending the fight. He smelled blood on the griffin as he landed. Something was wrong. They glared at each other. Ash growled. Talon pointed his head behind himself and screeched. Danger. He was asking for help from Ash and Shiva. This was a first. Ash could smell the dinos on the horizon... and Storm. He could hear the massive footsteps of a Tyranno. Fang had defeated them before, but it may be too much for them. No, he would defeat it, it was too weak to bother Fang with. Ash nodded his head and bounded off towards the dinos.

Shiva fell in behind Ash. He was such a male, so quick to fight, to assert dominance. He took their play fights far too seriously. She just wanted to have fun, he needed to remind himself how powerful he was. She didn't mind much, he likely was the strongest of them, though she never fought him seriously. Let him have his dominance, she didn't need it. What would it give her? The humans led them, fed them, groomed them, Alpha of the animals was an empty title. She just wanted to help Storm. Getting to kill a few dinos would bee fun too. It had been too long since she'd really gotten to sink her claws into anything seriously. Shadow saw them running along the way and joined them, he had been peacefully grazing, now he was being dragged into a battle. She felt bad, there was no reason for him to join, they could handle it, he was old, he should rest. Though Ash underestimated Shadow's strength. Claws and fangs weren't necessary to make a deadly beast.  
The dinos were in sight now, Storm was faster but they weren't letting themselves fall too far behind. Ash and Shiva put themselves between the horses and the dinos while Shadow took a defensive position next to Storm, who seemed about ready to collapse, either from exhaustion or fear. Shiva leaped at the first raptor, it clawed and bit, but she quickly tore its throat out with her teeth. Ash took down another just as it was about to bite her. Talon swooped down and carried one high into the air before dropping it with a crunch. They were making quick work of the tiny ones, but thee Tyranno ran past, straight for the horses. It opened its huge mouth and neared the prey. Without so much as a sound Shadow turned and kicked it hard in the jaw, snapping its mouth closed, nearly biting off its own tongue. Despite its size the Tyranno still recoiled, Shadow was a powerful horse, a kick from him would have killed anything smaller. The Tyranno backed up and circled the horses. He was cautious now. The raptors were all dead at this point, and Shiva rushed the giant dino. Ash sunk his teeth into its leg, it tried to bite at him but Talon scraped his talons across its snout, causing it to recoil in pain. Shiva jumped and dug her claws into its feathery hide, climbing her way up its side. It shook and writhed, trying to knock her off, but her claws were deep, she wasn't going anywhere, all it accomplished was widening the holes in its side, and the more it concerned itself with her the more Ash and Talon could lay into it. She made it onto its back and crawled to its neck. It was shaking its head fiercely. Good, doing half her job for her. She opened her mouth wide and wrapped her fangs around its spine, biting as hard as she could. It was big, it wasn't going to snap like a zebra's would. She shook her head opposite the beast's, using its own movements against it, tearing its spine apart, she could feel the muscles giving way and the bones cracking as she bit harder and harder. Finally it fell face-first into the ground. It was dead. She dismounted the corpse and Ash nuzzled her. Talon landed. He and Ash glared at each other. Men. Ash approached and licked a splatter of blood off Talon's feathers. Talon nuzzled him in response. Good, the two could at least be civil with each other. Talon moved to the horses and put a wing around Storm, who was still clearly terrified. The sun was beginning to set, it was about time they headed back. 

Shadow let out a sigh as Atlas was grooming him. It had been a troublesome day. He always warned Storm about straying too far. He couldn't blame her, though, he wasn't much different when he was young. He remembered all of his adventures with Damun, all the places they had seen. When Damun finally settled back in at Ruban he had assumed his adventuring days were over. He was getting older, but he still had a few good years left in him. The boy, Atlas, had been adverse to him at first, but he was glad he'd come around. He was a good kid. In many ways he reminded him of Damun, so full of a desire to find adventure, so quick to smile and laugh, even if he was a bit more worrisome than Damun had been. He was glad this boy had been the one to take up his reigns after Damun... didn't come back. He had a feeling that Atlas might even take him on greater adventures than Damun had. This last journey of his would be a good one.  
“Is that blood on your hooves, Shadow?” Atlas asked as he reached his feet. “What have you been doing, buddy?”  
Shadow shook his head. Nothing. Nothing at all.


	24. Paige the Sage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gale returns to Diaem, only to receive some bad news

Chapter 24: Paige the Sage

“There it is!” Gale said with a big smile on his face when they came in view of the giant crater that marked the location of Diaem. “I've gotta say, I didn't expect to be back home so soon but I'm still pretty excited. Boy will they be surprised! Paige will be all like 'Gale, why aren't you off saving the world like you were supposed to?' and I'll be all like-”  
“We get it, Gale,” Atlas chuckled, rolling his eyes. “Just get up there already.”  
“I thought you'd never ask,” Gale grinned. “I'll make sure they send a carriage for you guys, so just sit tight, okay?”  
Sure enough, it was only about thirty minutes after Gale flew off that the carriage arrived for them. “Hey guys, welcome back!” One of the griffin riders said with a smile. He was young, Atlas recognized him as one of the kids Gale had led in the battle. Looked like he was a true Guardian now.  
“Nice to see you again,” Rita replied as they entered the carriage.

When they reached Diaem there was no one waiting for them. They had expected Gale at the very least, though perhaps he had wanted to see his family. “Where's Gale?” Flynn asked the young Guardian once the carriage was parked.  
“Oh,” the boy looked uncomfortable. “He's with Paige and... the Sage.”  
“What's wrong?” Rita frowned.  
“After you all left...” the boy took a deep breath. “The men that attacked left an... illness. Many of us got sick, most of us got over it just fine, it was nothing major. The Sage, though... He fought it off for a long time, in fact he seemed to be getting better, but then the other day... He collapsed. The doctors say he won't make it much longer. No one... no one expected this. He kept insisting he was fine... It was so sudden.”  
“Oh my...” Rita said under her breath.  
“Where are they?” Flynn asked, “can we see them?”  
The boy nodded. “Yeah, I'll take you all there. I'm sure Paige and Gale will appreciate it.” 

The Sage was being kept in a room in his home. He was laid on a futon while Paige and Gale sat next to him. The windows were letting in a gentle breeze and the sun was lighting everything so calmly, it was hard to grasp that a man lay dying here. Paige's eyes were red and puffy, she had been crying. Gale was staring absently at the Sage, who was sleeping quietly.  
Paige looked up at all of them and did her best to smile. “You guys are all here. Glad you could make it. Sorry if the place is a mess, the owner's just been... lying around...” She tried to laugh at her joke but she just ended up shedding a few more tears. None of them could find the words to speak. She put her hand on Gale's. “Gale, I'm glad you came back. If he wakes up I know he'll want to see you.”  
“I...” Gale tried to find something to say, anything at all, but he was at a loss. Gale at a loss for words? Flynn never thought he would see the day. Gale stood suddenly. “I need to go.” He left the room quickly, before anyone could stop him.  
Paige looked confused at first, then she just looked angry. “Gale, what the heck!” She stormed after him. The others followed.

They caught up to Gale preparing Talon for a long flight. “Where do you think you're going, Gale!?” Paige demanded, grabbing his arm.  
Gale pulled himself free from her grip. “Look, Paige, I'm... I have something I need to do. I'm sorry, but this is bigger than any one of us, even the Sage, if I don't do this as soon as possible our whole world could be destroyed.”  
“Your father is dying in there, Gale!” Paige yelled. She was frantic. Rita felt tears brimming in her own eyes watching the desperate girl. “Our father. Maybe you're okay running off, but... I need you, Gale. When he's gone... I'll be the Sage. Gale, things haven't been going well since you've been gone. When the Sage got sick people started talking... They don't want me to be the Sage, they say I'm too young. They're talking about making one of the Elders the next Sage. With the Sage in his... state, and you gone... I don't have anyone to talk to. Please, Gale, I need you, I don't know what to do! I'm losing my mind here!”  
Gale put his hand on her shoulder. “You'll figure something out. You're stronger than you let yourself believe you are. But I need to go, there's no choice in the matter. It'll be a few hours, a day at most, I'll be back soon, I promise.”  
He mounted Talon and Paige was left staring at him like he was crazy. “Whoa, Gale, are you heading to the... uh, thing all by yourself?” Atlas asked, approaching him.  
“I have to,” Gale sighed, “even if I could get griffins for all of you, you'd never make it through the storm. I'll be fine.” With that he smiled and took off.  
“Asshole!” Paige yelled at him.  
“Love you too!” he called back.  
Rita put her arm around Paige. “Stupid, smelly, handsome butt-face jerk,” Paige mumbled.  
“I'm sorry, Paige,” Rita said.  
“He wet his bed until he was twelve, you know,” Paige said suddenly. “Also I used to sniff his clothes when it was my turn to do laundry. Ew, not the pee clothes, that sounded worse than it was, just, one thought led to another. Why did I say that, I shouldn't have said that, I was a weird kid. I'm just rambling like an idiot, aren't I? I am falling apart.”  
Rita laughed. “You stopped crying, at least.”  
Paige smiled sadly. “Yeah, and now all my feelings are falling out of my mouth instead of my eyes. Solid trade, no regrets.”  
“So you used to smell his clothes?” Atlas grinned, raising an eyebrow.  
Paige blushed. “He always smelled like stupid boy. And wind and sky and grass and feathers. I was always stuck at home, they were nice smells, okay.”  
“To each their own I guess,” Atlas laughed. “I'm only judging you a little bit.”

Flying always helped Gale clear his head, forget about everything and just enjoy the wind rushing all around him. The wide open sky in every direction put a smile back on his face. If you force yourself to smile for long enough you'll find you aren't pretending anymore. He felt a warm tug in his chest upon remembering the Sage's words. He would always tell Gale and Paige to smile when they were kids. Paige would frown and say he was just telling them to lie about how they feel, but Gale always took it to mean that the way you're feeling is largely based on your outlook. Smiling will make you feel better, even when you're feeling down. And it worked, most of the time. There were few things Gale couldn't smile away.  
He and Talon had been flying for awhile, he wasn't sure how long, he had forgotten to check where the sun was when he had set out. Hours maybe? He saw the great storm in front of them now, he'd seen it before, he was always going to places he wasn't allowed to, but this time it seemed even scarier. This time he had to go into it. He didn't know what was past those great, swirling black clouds, but he certainly hoped it was a demon. Heh, he never thought he would be hoping for a demon. The storm wasn't too big, he could see the end on either side if he looked far enough, but it was powerful, and it never left or moved. For as long as Guardians had been exploring, the great storm had been here, raging without a care in the world. And never once had a Guardian, or even a team of Guardians been able to make their way through it. Well, there had to be a first time for everything, right?  
“You ready for this, partner?” Gale asked Talon. Talon looked at him like he was insane. “That's what I thought,” Gale laughed, “but will you help me out anyway.” Talon rolled his eyes. Of course he would, why even bother asking? They were in it together. Always.

Paige, Rita and the others sat around the Sage in silence. Paige had stopped crying, but she seemed worried, scared even. She was going through a lot right now. Someone walked into the room and they all looked up. This section of the Sage's home had been opened to the public so that the townspeople could visit him and pay their respects before he passed. A few had come by in their time there, mostly to say kind words or shed a few tears. This time the visitor was one of the elders. Rita recognized him as the one who had done most of the talking the last time they had visited and spoken to them.   
“I was told Gale and his friends had returned,” he said, nodding to them. Now he set his gaze upon Paige. “I do hope you're prepared. Once he has breathed his last you will be expected to take up the duties of the Sage. You will need to be inducted. Make sure all your affairs are in order,” he paused and took a breath, “though whether or not you will remain Sage is still under consideration. You are still far too young, and not entirely... reliable. We elders shall be discussing this in length soon. I do hope you will understand if we decide to remove you from your position.” Paige sat in silence. Rita wanted to say something, but it wasn't her city, it wasn't her place. When it was clear he would get no response the elder turned and left without a word.  
Once he was far enough that he wouldn't be able to hear them Paige spoke up. “Just because I'm young doesn't mean I'm not capable! I've been training for this my whole life! Never in the history of this city has a Sage been removed from their duty! You old bastards can shove it! I'm kind of busy mourning my dad here, you asshole! Gah! Why can't you just leave me alone!?”  
“And why did you not say all of that to his face?” Atlas asked.  
“I'm not exactly good with people,” Paige sighed. “I can't actually tell him how I feel. Besides, he's not exactly wrong. There's never been a Sage as young as me. People say the Diamond took too long to choose its successor. Some people even say that there was probably one before me and everyone just somehow missed it. Which is ridiculous, by the way.”  
Fang stared at the door where the elder had been standing. “Should I kill him?”  
“Maybe...” Paige shook her head violently. “I mean, no, no no no, definitely not, that would be very bad, don't do that. He's not a bad guy, he just cares about his people and he wants the best for them. I honestly can't say with certainty that I'm the best choice.” She looked at the Sage. “Sages are always home schooled, but the Sage wanted me to make friends my age, he said it was important for a Sage to know his people. So he arranged it that I could go to school with the other kids. I was terrified, I've never been good with people, especially ones I don't know. It was my first day and the teacher called on me to answer a question, and I opened my mouth to answer, but instead of words coming out, it was my breakfast. And possibly the previous night's dinner. And like, every meal I've every eaten. It was a record-breaking amount of vomit is what I'm saying, and it just got all over the kid on front of me. Like, he was just coated. He's probably still cleaning it out of his ears to this day.”  
“And, uh, what exactly was the point of that story?” Atlas asked. Flynn looked a little like he was about to throw up himself after hearing that.  
“How can someone that does something like that be the Sage?” Paige asked. “That guy still lives here, whenever he sees me he's gonna be like, oh hey, that's the girl that threw up on me when we were six, I'm glad she's the one making important decisions and taking care of the Diamond, she's probably super qualified- oh, is that an old piece of corn between my toes?”  
“I think you're overthinking all of this,” Rita laughed. “That was a long time ago.”  
“If you sent me to a school full of people I didn't know today I would totally do the exact same thing,” Paige assured her. “I feel like such a jerk right now, my dad is dying and all I can think about is myself and how much trouble this is causing me, all I want to do is cry and mourn like a normal person, but instead I have to prepare to become the freaking Sage, I feel like my head is legit going to explode.”  
“It's really not a fair situation,” Flynn said, shaking his head.  
Paige rubbed the sides of her head with her palms and took a deep breath. “I need to find my earrings.”  
“What?” Atlas asked.  
“At the ceremony where I become the Sage, I need to exchange my first pair of earrings for the Sage's earrings. I know they're in my room somewhere but I have no idea where, I need to find them.”  
“I'll help you,” Rita said, standing with her.  
“Thanks,” Paige sighed. “Could you guys keep the Sage company while I'm gone? He likes bad jokes, so channel your inner Gale.”  
“I'll do my best,” Atlas chuckled, shaking his head.

This was no ordinary storm. Gale suddenly understood just why no one had ever made it through. The wind was... wrong. It resisted his magic. It reminded him of Guardian training, they would play games where two trainees would try and knock each other over using the same patch of air. It was the feeling of someone else already controlling the wind. The Demon. So his control was limited, no big deal, he could work with that. He set Talon to follow the current, it tried to push them right out of the storm but Gale used what little control he had to dig them in deeper. It was slow going and dizzying, spinning around and around, but they were making progress. It was getting hard to breathe, he had to measure his breathing and search out for breathable air he could pull in.   
The storm got thicker now, it was harder and harder to move in, almost like there was a wall in the way- he needed a new strategy. He felt something in the air- he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it until now, but this whole storm was weird, it was hard to keep track of anything in here, he couldn't even hear himself think over the rush of wind. Talon barely moved in time to avoid the threat- good thing the griffin had been more observant than Gale. Before them was the biggest bird Gale had ever seen. Was it even a bird? It looked like a giant serpent with a beak and six massive wings, covered head to tail in green feathers. The beast could eat the both of them whole, and it had tried, but Talon's quick thinking saved them. It twisted around from its lunge to face them- of course this guy wasn't affected by the storm, probably a minion of the demon like that lava monster had been. Unfortunately Gale was on his own with this one. Gale drew his bow and fired three arrows in succession- one, two... three. They shot forward and then turned around and flew right back past Gale and Talon. He had shot against the wind. Arrows were a tricky weapon in a storm. Unfortunately, all he had. The big snake-bird-thing was still flying right at them. They dodged another bite and started flying away from it- unfortunately, it was faster. It was closing in on them, and fast. It opened its mouth, then the arrows caught it. One, two, right in two of its wings- the joints, those two wings were out of commission. More importantly it was in a lot of pain. Gale couldn't help but grin, it was a crap-shoot hoping those arrows would make it all the way around the storm without being torn to pieces. The beast screeched and jerked its head, trying to see what was causing it all this discomfort, then... three. The last arrow hit in the neck, right under the beak, sliding through the tongue and into its mouth. Gale and Talon took the chance to close in, Talon looped around and dug his claws into its back, twisting it around, Gale used all the magic he could muster to push them further into the center of the storm, and... perfect. Just like he'd thought, the wind of the storm avoided the beast, using it as a shield they pushed right through, further and further until- calm. The eye of the storm.

“Thanks for helping look,” Paige said as she and Rita rummaged around her room. It was certainly messier than Rita had expected. Robes strewn about the floor, boxes full of miscellaneous things everywhere, her walls were covered in artwork and she had a low table covered in papers and writing tools. “Sorry about the mess, I- uh, not many people come in here, so I just kinda... well, I throw everything on the ground, to be honest. Not like I could hide that. You can see all my stuff on the ground. Or in boxes. Sometimes it makes it to a box, those are the days I feel like I could conquer the world.”  
Rita laughed. Honestly? It was a nice change from the castle she grew up in, everything had a place and it was always there no matter what. “Did you paint these?” Rita asked, gesturing to the walls.  
“No,” Paige replied, “I mean, not any of the good ones, obviously the paint on the actual wall was me, but all the pretty stuff I bought from painters in the city.”  
“I think the wall art is pretty,” Rita said as she pulled a box from under the desk. There were a few under there. It was filled with papers. She picked up a stack, they were bound. The cover said “The Little Girl and the Silly Old Man”. “What's this?” Rita asked.  
Paige blushed and tried to lunge at Rita, but only succeeded on falling flat on her face. She shot up and grabbed at it, but Rita moved it out of the way. Paige sighed. “I drew that when I was like, six, okay?”  
“But what is it?” Rita asked again.  
“I'm weird,” Paige said. “Okay, so, when I was little I read these books, this guy wrote them, and he made a bunch, and they were like regular books but they had pictures. Each page was a picture and it told part of a famous story. I thought it was amazing, so I had this idea to make my own. That was the first one I made, it was for the Sage. It's not very good, it's only on the top of the pile because I read it recently. You know... nostalgia. Crippling sadness, it'll do that.”  
“Did you make more?”  
“I- yeah, I did, all those boxes under the desk,” Paige sighed. “After that one I started changing the style, I tried making each page multiple pictures, so I could tell a more... involved? Dynamic? What's the word? I more awesome story. With like fight scenes and stuff. Some of it's retelling of real stories, some I just made up.”  
Rita looked at the cover of the book she was holding. It was clearly drawn by a child. It was supposed to be Paige, the Sage and Gale, she believed. She opened it to the first page.  
“And you're reading it,” Paige grumbled, “If I die of embarrassment I'm haunting you.”  
“I'm just interested,” Rita laughed. “It's a cool idea. Besides, you can't put literature in front of me and expect me not to read it.”  
“Literature is a strong word,” Paige sighed.  
The first page pictured Paige, as a small child, crying. It read

Once upon a time there was a sad little girl, who always seemed to be crying. She didn't know who her parents were and the other kids would laugh at her and play pranks on her because she was shy.

Rita turned the page. This depicted the Sage giving Paige a hug.

But the sad little girl lived with a silly old man. Whenever she would cry he would always do his best to make her smile. He would hug her and he would say “A smile suits your pretty little face so much better than tears, you know.” And that would always make her laugh, though she wasn't sure why.

The next page showed Paige, Gale and the Sage holding hands.

The silly old man and her brother kept her company, and they were always telling terrible jokes, but she loved them anyway.

The last page was Paige smiling.

Maybe she didn't know her parents, but that didn't matter to her, because the silly old man was the best parent she could ask for. Thanks to him the sad little girl was a happy little girl.

“That was cute,” Rita smiled. Paige was busying herself searching for the earrings.   
“Yeah, I hear I was a cute kid,” Paige replied, “I also used to try and stuff entire sandwiches in my mouth, which unfortunately I did not write a book about, so you'll just have to use your imagination.”  
“You're still pretty darn cute, you know,” Rita joked.  
Paige laughed awkwardly. “If you're trying to flirt with me, you should know that I am a very serious cuddler. Like, all day every day. I am a cuddling force of nature that cannot be stopped.”  
“I'll keep that in mind,” Rita laughed as she looked through the other books in Paige's boxes. It was clear which ones were newer, her art had become gorgeous, and her use of color was brilliant. She picked up one with a hero on the cover holding a bow. He looked familiar. “Is this Gale?”  
Paige snatched it out of her hand before she had a chance to react. “Nope, nope nope, super not him. Just a guy. Random, not at all attractive guy who I just happened to make the hero of one of the stories. He's actually really lame, so I'm just gonna take this and put it somewhere else so you don't waste your time reading it. And if you find any others with him on it definitely don't read them, they're really bad. And while we're at it, don't bother looking in the far left box, that's just... trash. Not... not anything worth looking at.”  
“Well now I have to look,” Rita grinned, grabbing for the far left box. Paige put herself between Rita and the box and the two ended up wresting each other until Rita finally managed to pin Paige. Sitting on the young Sage's back Rita pulled out the box as Paige whined her protests. Rita took one look at the top book, blushed uncontrollably and put it all back as quickly as she could. “Well...” She said, getting off of Paige. “You are... that age... Nothing... nothing to be ashamed of.”  
“Let's just keep this between us,” Paige said, avoiding eye contact.  
Rita nodded furiously. She went back to the first box. “Like it never happened.”  
“Nope,” Paige agreed, “Like that time Gale brought that girl home that turned out to be a dude, never happened.”  
Rita looked at Paige. “Did that really happen?”  
“Did what happen?” There was a silence. They both laughed. The tension was suddenly gone.  
“These really are amazing,” Rita said after flipping through a few of the books. “Your art is amazing and I love this writing style.”  
Paige was blushing. “I'm... well, I'm passionate about it. It's fun. Stop complimenting me, I'm gonna melt into a puddle or something.”  
Rita picked up the last book in the box. It didn't look quite like the others. The art obviously wasn't Paige's. “Paige, what is this? It doesn't look like one of yours.”  
Paige looked over Rita's shoulder at it. The title read “The Silly Old Man and the Little Girl”. She frowned. “I've never seen that before.” She took it from Rita. Suddenly her eyes changed as a realization dawned on her. “This handwriting... The Sage wrote this. When did he... How did it get here? I searched through all my boxes after Gale left so he must have snuck this in some time between then and when he got sick.”  
“If you want me to leave while you read it...” Rita said. It was obvious he made it for Paige, it was none of her business if Paige didn't want her to see it.  
Paige shook her head. “Stay... please.” She took a deep breath. The cover showed the Sage and a very young Paige, both smiling. She opened it to the first page.

Once upon a time there was a silly old man. He had no family, no children to call his own. He smiled to the people of his city, but at home he found himself lonely.

It pictured the Sage, alone, looking sad. She turned the page.

But one day the Diamond gave him the greatest gift of all, a beautiful little girl and a brave little boy. He wasn't lonely anymore, he found himself smiling and laughing without even trying. 

This page showed a smiling Sage, a small Paige and Gale with him. She went on.

The little boy was always getting into trouble, showing off and laughing all the while. The little girl, the old man found, was often crying. It hurt him to see her cry. She didn't know her family, and he knew he could never truly replace them.

Paige bit her lip as she looked at the image of a young Gale grinning and Paige crying. She turned the page.

But the silly old man would try to make things better for her. When she would cry he would hold her, let her cry on his shoulder- funny how well shoulders absorb tears, and sadness with them. When she was all cried out he would tell her to smile, a frown didn't suit such a pretty face. And she would. For some reason he found he could make her smile, and that made him smile. Nothing made him happier.

Paige smiled. Rita smiled too, Paige looked just like the little girl he'd drawn in those pages, smiling with tears in her eyes. She turned the page. There was a clear difference, the paper wasn't as old, the art was a little worse, he had written this years later, he had gotten older, perhaps he was shaking a bit when he drew it.

The little girl and the little boy would grow up, they would broth grow up strong and brave, sensitive and kind. The boy would go out, flirt with girls and dazzle the city with his talents, the girl preferred to stay home and draw. The silly old man didn't mind that, he wasn't sure what he would do if she started looking at boys. She smiled more now, she was witty and awkward, and he couldn't help but smile when she showed him her artwork and grinned like a fool. She cried less now, but when she did the silly old man would always be there to hold her and let her cry on his shoulder. And when she was all cried out he would tell her to smile, a frown didn't suit her pretty face. And she would. He could still make her smile, and that still made him smile. 

The picture showed Gale riding Talon and Paige at her desk writing, the Sage smiling as he watched them. She turned the page. She was shaking now. The art got worse, this was recent, he had definitely been struggling. It was hard to look at.

The little boy was all grown up now and left to save the world, as brave little boys will often do. The silly old man and the little girl were alone now. The little girl cried often now. The silly old man would let her cry on his shoulder, even if he knew she thought she'd grown out of it. And when she was all cried out he would tell her to smile, a frown didn't suit her pretty face. And she tried. She really tried, but sometimes it was just too hard to smile.

Paige was crying now. Her hands shook violently, afraid to turn the page. But she did. The art had deteriorated into almost nothing, the writing was close to illegible.

The silly old man got sick. He knew he didn't have long. Soon he would be gone and the little girl would be alone. She would cry and he wouldn't be there to lend her his shoulder. To tell her to smile. But he wasn't so full of himself as to think that without him she would cry forever. She had grown up strong. She would cry until she was all cried out and then she would smile. Because she was not a little girl anymore. She was a woman. A woman that the silly old man was so proud of. She didn't need anyone to hold her or to tell her to smile, she could stand on her own, and she would thrive. And she would never stop moving forward.

The picture showed Paige, standing alone. She turned it to the last page, tears streaming down her face.

But still... the silly old man knew what it was to be alone. And he didn't ever want to leave her that way. And then he smiled. Because he realized what she must have known all along. He would always be there to hold her while she cried. To tell her to smile. No matter what, he would always be there for her.

The last page showed Paige holding the Sage as he cried.

Paige closed the book and took a shaky breath in. Rita had no words. Paige looked at her. Rita hugged her. She held her as tears streamed from her eyes, as she wailed and cried, sobbed into her shoulder. Rita would let her cry until she was all cried out. Then... then she would probably need to cry some more. Sometimes you couldn't stop crying. And sometimes that was okay.

Gale was surprised at how bright it was inside the storm. It seemed like a cloudy day. So calm, so peaceful. He and Talon stood alone next to the body of the beast they had slain to get in. The island was small, like one of the islands on the outskirts of the Diamond's influence that barely stayed afloat. The ground was a mottled mix of grass and dirt, everything seemed so tranquil. Did he have the wrong place after all? No, he could feel the pressure. His diamond was reverberating with the energy of the demon, wherever it was. The air before him began to swirl, gently at first, then more and more violently, until there was a small cyclone before them. The winds cleared and revealed a massive knight, clad head to toe in thick metal plate. Gale looked him up and down as he drew a huge sword, there were no openings in his armor large enough for an arrowhead to fit through- he didn't even have eye holes on his helmet.   
“Demon's minion, I presume?” Gale said as the knight closed in. “Gale Stormwind, pleasure to meet you.” The knight swung his sword, Gale ducked under it. “Ooh! I could feel the power behind that, you're a cut above the rest, huh?” he brought the sword down and Gale back-flipped out of the way. “Yeesh, tough crowd, I'll get a laugh out of you yet!”  
Gale drew his bow and fired an arrow at the knight's elbow. It clinked harmlessly off the armor. Wishful thinking, that a demon's servant would need to play by the rules and actually have weaknesses in his armor. Talon flew at the knight, maybe his claws could tear through that armor, they'd yet to find something they couldn't shear. As Talon closed in a massive gust of wind knocked him back. Gale sighed. “Looks like this fight is just for me, maybe sit this one out, buddy,” Gale instructed. Talon reluctantly withdrew.   
Gale battered the knight with a barrage of wind- nothing. His armor was too heavy, maybe Paige could have lifted him, but Gale didn't stand a chance. He was forced to dodge and weave, looking for any opening he could use. This was a little unfair. What would his friends do? Fang could probably just punch right through his armor, and Atlas would actually be at an advantage here, since he could shock the metal and fry whatever was inside. Flynn could melt it, and Rita's water could sneak into any opening, no matter how small, even those little openings inn the joints of the armor, thin as a wire, or... Gale grinned. He vaulted over the knight and slid his bow over its head. The string slipped perfectly into the crack around the knight's neck. Gale used his weight and pulled, he was strangling the knight, who was unable to reach behind him. He dropped his sword and clawed at his throat- no use, his own armor was his enemy now, he would never get through it. “Looks like I'm winning now, huh?” Gale said. “That's a breath of fresh air, huh? Oh sorry, sore subject, right?” The knight fell to his knees, Gale re-positioned himself, placing his foot on the knight's back, it was almost over. “Sorry, I didn't want to string you along like this, but you really didn't leave me much choice.” Finally, the knight stopped moving. Gale removed his bow and grinned. “It was hard fought, but it looks like this time you bowed under the pressure.”  
The body turned to dust and blew away, now in its place stood Rita. It wasn't really her, Gale knew that. The demon was about to start playing mind games, Flynn had warned him about that, he was ready for anything. Rita walked towards him, she placed her hand on his cheek. It was cold, like ice on his skin. She moved her face towards his, their lips almost touching, her breath like mist washing over him. For a moment it felt real, but he remembered not to fall into the illusion.   
“I know how much you want me, Gale,” the shade of Rita whispered.  
“I want a lot of things,” Gale replied.  
Rita pulled away from him. A shadow of a man appeared behind her, holding her like a lover. “I'll find another, but you... It will never be you.”  
Gale grinned. “Is this supposed to make me jealous? I made peace with that a long time ago. Rita's my friend, if she wants to be with someone else, who am I to stop her? Though I'd hope she'd at least choose a guy with real features.”  
The shadow disappeared, now Flynn, Fang and Atlas were there too. They were at a campfire. Atlas and Flynn were laughing and chatting, Rita was brushing Fang's hair. Gale sat alone. “I get it. They're all closer with each other than they are with me. Maybe. I guess I'm not best friends with any of them like they are, but I'm happy with my friendships with them. For the first time in my life I have a group of people who I feel like I can really be myself around. You can't make me feel jealous about their relationships by showing me this. If anything it makes me happy to see them happy. And before you do the thing you did a minute ago, and have them tell me I'm trash or something, I know this is all an illusion, I'm not taking anyone's words to heart.”  
Suddenly he was back in Diaem. He was back in school, only six or seven years old. This was no illusion, this was a memory. Parents' day at school. All the other kids' parents had come in to talk about what they did for a living. But he... he didn't have parents. He hadn't told the Sage about it, he knew he was busy. All of the other kids had a family with them and he was sitting alone. Gale took a deep breath. It wasn't the happiest memory, no. But he smiled anyway. Seeing all those kids so happy made him happy. “You almost got me there, but this is my memory. I know what happens next.” There was resistance, the demon was trying to stop it, but it was his memory, and it would do as he wished. The Sage walked though the classroom door and Gale grinned ear to ear, just like he did back then. The Sage had showed up anyway. And he told the class about what it was like to be Sage. Gale might not have known his blood parents, but that didn't mean he didn't have a family. He had the greatest father a kid could ever ask for. Gale let himself just listen to the Sage speak. It had been too long since he'd heard his voice. He may never hear it again. He sighed. He was back on the island.   
“Alright, demon,” Gale called out. “Show yourself. All your visions have done is make me realize I have a family I should be spending time with right now instead of wasting it up here. Let's finish up so I can get back to the Sage while I still can!”  
The demon appeared before him. It took the form of a young girl. She had mint green hair and deep green eyes and a scowl on her lips. Her twin ponytails were comprised not of hair but of several rods of what appeared to be pure energy, glowing the same green color as her hair, floating behind her head. She glared at him.  
Gale smiled. “Sorry if I ruined your fun, but I am kind of in a hurry. I'm Gale, you already know that, I'm sure, but I was raised to always introduce myself when I meet someone new. What can I call you?”  
“I am a demon of Envy, I have no name,” She hissed.  
“Ah!” Gale exclaimed. “Envy. I guessed jealousy, pretty much the same thing though. Tomato, potato.”  
“That's not the saying!” She snapped.   
“Envy's such a nasty sounding word though,” Gale said, “Jealousy is a bit of a mouthful... How about Jill? Can I call you Jill?”  
“No! You certainly may not!” She growled.  
“You're cute when you're angry, Jill,” Gale smiled.  
She blushed. Realizing that he had stunned her to silence she shook herself off and regained her composure. “I may be a demon of Envy, but I know your weaknesses, I can always attack your... baser interests.” She floated to him and slid her hands along the sides of his face. She looked him in the eyes. “I know you have... desires. I can-”  
“Uh, I think I know where you're going,” Gale interrupted, “sorry, but I'm not really into little girls.”  
She recoiled, her face turning red with embarrassment. “You- why- how dare you! I am hundreds of years older than you!”  
“Yeah, but you look like you're like, twelve. Maybe.”  
She looked away. “This was what the one who sealed me here liked.”  
“I never needed to know that about the first Guardian,” Gale frowned.  
“No matter,” the demon said, surrounding herself in a blistering wind. “I can look like anything I choose.” Once the winds had calmed she stood as a beautiful, mature and buxom woman. She approached Gale again. She pressed her body against him. “Am I more to your liking now?” She whispered into his ear.  
“Sorry again,” Gale grinned, “I don't really go for demons in general.”  
Furious, the demon leapt back, returning to her child form. “Let me seduce you, you bastard!” She flailed wildly in the air. “I am an ancient demon of envy, how have you been immune to everything I've done!?”  
Gale smiled. “You just got unlucky, I guess. I don't think I've ever been jealous a day in my life. The Sage always taught me to be content with the things I have, and to be happy for people who had what I didn't, not covet what I never would.”  
“You are an idiot,” the demon groaned.  
“Would you say I'm an air-head?” Gale grinned.  
“Why must you turn everything into a joke!” the demon snapped.  
“The Sage always told me that every joke you don't tell robs thee world of a chance to laugh,” Gale said, “and I've always taken that to heart.”  
The demon was surprised to find herself a little... taken by the honesty of his answer. Was she blushing again?  
“But I'm just wasting time,” Gale sighed. “I know that the chances of you stealing my body aren't that great, but I need you. You saw my memories, I know you know what I'm asking. And your other option is staying up here alone forever. So what do you say, come with me?” He extended her a hand.  
Perhaps this boy would be a viable host after all. He was charming. And clever. He would do nicely. Finally, she could leave this place. She took his hand. Her physical form surged into his diamond.  
It did not feel good. Gale felt like his mind was being torn apart and reconstructed, his entire body was tensing and shaking, but he felt a power like he'd never felt before. When it stopped he felt a calm. Then he realized why. The winds around the island had stopped. The island was falling. Talon ran to him and he mounted up. They flew up and away, watching the island fall. “It's falling! Why is it falling!?”  
“Without my power the island will no longer stay afloat. Surely you realized that,” She said in his head.  
Gale didn't have time to fully appreciate just how weird it was to hear her voice in his head. “This was directly above the city!” Gale said, “It'll crush Diaem! We have to do something!”  
“Calm down,” Jill said, (he was calling her Jill now) he could feel the confidence in her voice. “Now allow me to show you my true power. Draw an arrow.”  
Gale did as she asked. His arrow glowed, he felt the energy radiating off of it. He fired. It hit the island and exploded into a massive storm, tearing the rocks and dirt apart until there was nothing left but dust floating away harmlessly in the wind. “Damn, girl.”

Apparently Gale got back just in time. As soon as he landed back in Diaem a guardian told him to hurry to the Sage- he didn't have long, the doctors had given him an hour longer at most, his condition was the worst it had ever been. He flew Talon straight to his childhood home and ran inside, the griffin squirming his way through the door behind him. Talon was too big to fit inside, but the Sage was just as much a father to him as to Gale and Paige, he would be there if he could. Paige and the others were sitting around the Sage, the doctor by his side monitoring him. The doctor looked to him. “He's only got a few moments left. If you have anything else to say to him, now would be the time.”  
Gale tried to think of something to say, anything at all, but he drew a blank. Then he realized, the Sage knew. There was nothing left to say to him. He knew everything Gale could tell him. He thought about apologizing for leaving, telling him about how he'd made such amazing friends, about how he'd just made a pact with a demon, or how Flynn had become a guardian, or how they'd crossed a desert that no one had ever crossed before, or how pretty the girls in Ruban were, but... none of that mattered. Somehow he could tell that the Sage knew. He looked so peaceful, sleeping, like nothing was wrong. Gale felt that though his eyes were closed he could see everything. He was one with the Diamond, he knew what Gale had been through.  
“I saw him in your memories,” Jill said, “But seeing him in person is something else. He's so attuned to the Diamond... he feels like... home. His presence is calming. The girl, too. You have a good family.”  
Were those words of comfort from a demon? He'd gotten a good one. Gale sat and put his hand on Paige's shoulder. They needed to be there for each other, they were all the family they had left. Gale saw Talon poking his head through the doorway. He was their family too. The air in the room began to move, it swirled, but it wasn't roaring like a storm, it was singing, the Diamond's final song for the Sage. It was beautiful. Gale watched in silence as the Sage's body disappeared, becoming one with the diamonds dangling from his ears. The winds calmed and there was silence. Then Gale spoke.  
“Why'd you have to storm out like that,” Gale choked out through his tears, “I never took you for a deadbeat dad.”  
Atlas looked at him like he had just punched a baby. “Gale! Your dad just-”  
Paige laughed. She laughed and laughed, and she cried and cried. She looked at Gale and smiled. “Nothing would have made the Sage happier than to have heard you say that.”  
“Every joke you don't tell is robbing the world of a chance to laugh, wasn't it?”  
“Yeah,” Gale nodded and put his arm around Paige and they cried into each others' shoulders. Funny how good shoulders were at absorbing tears.

The time for Paige's coronation was here. She had had less than a day to prepare after the Sage had passed, they couldn't have a city without a Sage. Her eyes were still red and puffy from crying. She took a deep breath, the stage was before her, set up in a plaza in front of the Diamond so that it could be seen as the ceremony took place. She was wearing the Sage's robes that she was so used to seeing on her father, now fitted to her. She held in her hand the small diamonds that had been her first earrings. She stepped out onto the stage, the sun nearly blinded her. The whole city was watching her. She could feel her stomach churning and something acidic creeping up the back of her throat. She saw Gale grinning, front and center, and that made her smile. She walked to the Elder. He began to speak his piece, she couldn't hear him over her heart pounding, but she had been rehearsing this since she was five, she knew what to do. When the time came she placed the small earrings in her hand into his, then removed the earrings she was wearing and gave them to him as well. Finally, she took the earrings of the Sage off of the small pillow on the pedestal in front of them. She was so used to seeing them on the Sage that it seemed wrong to see them on the pillow, or even to hold them in her hands.   
“With this,” the elder spoke out, “Paige will henceforth be known as the Sage of the Diamond. At least until a suitable replacement can be found.”  
That wasn't how that line went. She knew every word of the ceremony by heart, and that wasn't one of them. She'd read the history books too, and this was usually when the people cheered for the new Sage, but she was met with silence. She looked to the crowd and saw a thousand faces, each one seemed to be judging her, telling her she wasn't good enough. Her hands were trembling as she tried to put the new earrings in, she was worried she would drop them. She closed her eyes, she wanted to cry again. Then she felt a warm hand on hers. It felt like the Sage's, so comforting and kind. She opened her eyes and saw Gale. He had jumped onto the stage.   
He looked out to the crowd. “You're not going to be getting a more suitable replacement, you know!” He yelled. “I'm sick and tired of hearing you people talk shit about Paige! You're all better than that! Because guess what, she is the best option to become the Sage! Who cares if she's younger than a Sage has ever been? How many of you have been training to become Sage for over ten years? Guardians are instated after less than that! She knows what she's doing! I've seen her working her ass off day after day her whole life so she would be ready when her time came, and she is more than ready! Do I need to remind you how she has helped every single one of you? The Sage needs to commune with the Diamond, and I know she can do that. The Sage needs to be able to make compromises when we have tough decisions to make, and Paige has always been kind and level-headed when she needs to make a choice. But most of all the Sage needs to be able to protect the people of the city should the Guardians fail! Remember that great battle we had a few months ago? When the masked men riding dragons attacked us? Paige stood alone protecting our children hiding in the Guardian Academy. And do you know how many casualties there were of children under thirteen? Zero. Not even a scraped knee. Paige took care of them, protected them against impossible odds and won. And never even asked for thanks. So if you're holding the hand of your son or daughter right now you have her to thank. She is the reason we're all still alive today to scowl and murmur. So look up here, look her in the eyes and tell me she isn't the best choice to become the Sage. And if you still aren't convinced I will personally talk to each and every one of you to explain how Paige has helped you. So, any more arguments?”  
The Elder looked livid, but also embarrassed, seemed Gale had convinced even him. The whole crowd was suddenly uncomfortable. Then she heard the cheer. Rita's voice all alone. “Yeah! Paige the Sage!”  
Then Atlas and Flynn. “Paige the Sage!”  
And it spread. Soon the whole crowd was shouting and smiling. “Paige the Sage!” These were the good people of Diaem. The people she had grown up with and loved and wanted to protect. People who didn't hold grudges or worry about things like age or gender. They were all good people and Paige was happy to see that again after feeling alienated for so long. Her hands had stopped shaking. She put her earrings in- yes, they were hers now. She smiled and opened her arms wide, a gesture to finish the ceremony, representing the Sage taking the entire city under his or her protection. She couldn't see it behind her, but she felt the Diamond glowing brightly, a musical breeze blowing through the air. 

“You guys are leaving already?” Paige frowned as Gale readied Talon for travel and the others ushered their mounts onto a carriage.  
“I'm sorry we can't stay longer, but we're in a hurry,” Gale sighed. “We need to get to all the... uh, things we need to get to before those masked men can. We're headed to Emerala next, and I'm sure Fang will be happy to get back on solid ground.”  
“I'm not sure I can do this without you...” Paige muttered. “If you hadn't said all those things at the ceremony-”  
“Paige,” Gale said, putting his hands on her shoulders, “it's not your job as Sage to tell people how great you are. Your job is to help people, and be kind and accepting, and to protect your people, and I know you're more than capable of doing all those things. Just speak your mind and everything will be fine. You're smart and you're kind and you're strong. You'll do fine.”  
“Thank you, Gale,” Paige smiled, giving him a hug.  
Gale mounted Talon, it was about time to go. “Good luck. A new Paige in your story is about to begin.” He grinned, Paige rolled her eyes, and Talon took off.  
“What a whiny girl,” Jill said.  
“Glad you like her,” Gale replied.  
“I hate her.”  
“Like you hate me?”  
“You're an ass,” Jill growled.  
Gale laughed. “Sorry we haven't had much time to talk, but we've got a lot of travel ahead of us, so I look forward to getting to knowing you better.”  
Gale could almost feel her blush. “I... don't. You aren't worth my time. Boor.”  
“You're cute when you're mad.”  
“... Jerk.”


	25. Old Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flynn and the others make their way towards Emerala

Chapter 25: Old Scars

“So, where are we actually going?” Atlas asked as they all sat around the campfire, a notebook in his hand. “We know we're in a hurry, and we assume the Demon of the Emerald will be near Emerala, but after Gale's tip about the storm we really have no idea where to look next.”  
“Well we have two demons on our team now,” Rita said, “do either of them have any idea where the other three could be?”  
“Any idea, Ifrit?” Flynn asked.  
“I told you all before that I haven't the faintest idea,” Ifrit sighed.  
“As long as our siblings are sealed as we were we can't sense their presence,” This was a voice unfamiliar to Flynn, and he saw the faint image of a young girl with pale green hair, in the same way he saw Ifrit in his mind when she spoke.  
“Uh, what was that?” Flynn asked.  
“The demon of wind,” Ifrit said. “Jill and I can communicate telepathically due to our connection, and because I am connected to you she can speak to you as well.”  
“Don't call me Jill!” The other demon snapped.  
“So does that mean that you could connect me directly to Gale and we could talk like this too?” Flynn asked.  
“I suppose we could try. In theory it would work,” Ifrit said. There was a small pause. “Try.”

“Uh, Gale?” Flynn said.  
“Flynn!” Gale said excitedly inside Flynn's mind. “Jill was just telling me we might be able to do this, but you beat me to it! Ah, man, this is so cool!”  
“It's pretty cool,” Flynn agreed. “And it could be really useful too.”  
“Yeah, we can make fun of Atlas without him hearing!”  
“You guys know we can still hear you, right?” Jill groaned. “Not that you said anything embarrassing or something, I just really don't care.”  
“Jill says hi,” Gale joked.  
“Have you guys been listening to anything we've been saying?” Atlas asked, snapping his fingers in front of Flynn's face. No, no he had not. “You two were just staring off into space, you guys alright?”  
“We were... uh, talking I guess?” Flynn said, unsure of how to explain it.  
“Talking?” Rita asked.  
Gale waved them off. “It's a demon thing, you'll get it when you have your own. Flynn and I are currently part of a very exclusive club.”  
“Uh huh,” Atlas said, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, we think we deduced where the last three demons are.”  
“Oh, that's good,” Flynn nodded, “can you... repeat all that for those of us who... may have missed something?”  
Atlas sighed. “Basically we realized Ruban has the southern desert no one had ever returned from-”  
“The Deathsert.”  
“Shut up Gale- and Diaem had a storm far above it, and when we thought about it every city has its own deadly urban legend if you head too far in one direction. Emerala has a jungle to the west filled with monsters that have killed anyone who entered, Sapphus has the Northern Sea that no boat has ever returned from, and Topal has the Lightning Mountains, a peak that no one has ever successfully ascended.”  
“Sounds promising,” Gale agreed. “I guess we're headed to the jungle next then, huh?”  
“And past Emerala, too,” Flynn frowned, looking to Fang.  
“Yeah that could be a problem,” Atlas sighed, “we're all probably wanted fugitives there.”  
“We'll be fine,” Fang grumbled.  
Atlas grinned. “Well, if Fang says we'll be fine I guess we've got nothing to worry about. Besides, they've never seen Rita or Gale, so if we need to go into the city we could just send you two.”  
“From what you guys have said about Emerala I feel like I'd rather leave that city out of my tour,” Gale joked.  
“I'm sure it could be fun, Gale,” Rita smiled, “grab some exotic food, resupply, break some chains, kill some slave owners, we could make a day out of it.”  
“Okay, okay, you've convinced me,” Gale said, “but only so I can tell the people we fight in Emerala that I'm about to rock their world. Every. Single. One.”  
Atlas chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Alright, to the jungle it is, then,” he said, writing in his notebook. 

“Are you sure you'll be okay going back there?” Rita asked as she and Fang bathed. Fang didn't seem to mind keeping herself clean now, and Atlas and Flynn certainly appreciated the improved smell of the group after Rita had started making sure Fang washed, but the smaller girl still hadn't quite grasped the concept of properly doing it herself, so Rita usually joined her, making sure she washed behind her ears and brushed her hair and such. “I know they did... you weren't treated well there.”  
“I was a slave,” Fang said. “You can say it. I was there, I know what I was. I'll be fine. I'm not a slave anymore. Those people can't hurt me anymore. If they try I'll hurt them.”  
Rita gave a weak smile as she brushed Fang's hair. It was so thick and beautiful, but Fang always let it get tangled and filthy. “I guess that's one way to look at it.” Rita noticed a patch of dirt Fang had missed just below her neck. She pushed the hair aside. Rita had to hold herself back from shuddering. She knew Fang had scars on her back, but her hair was always covering them, seeing them up close like this always made her uneasy. She usually tried not to stare, but just this once... they were heading to Emerala. To the place where she'd gotten these scars. She couldn't look away, she needed to see what those monsters had done. She looked at the long, straight scars criss-crossing, some looked to be from whips, others from blades. She had more scar tissue on her back than real skin. Without thinking Rita reached out and touched a scar. Fang almost pulled away but stopped herself. “I'm sorry,” Rita said, starting to pull her hand away.  
“No,” Fang said, reaching back and taking Rita's hand, placing it back where it had been. “You can know.” Rita ran her finger along it, it was the longest, deepest one, extending from her right shoulder to her left hip. “When my master found out I had been sneaking off to play with the Direwolves he slashed me across the back with a broadsword. It didn't stop me sneaking out though, I just had to be more careful.”  
Rita moved her hand to another one. This one crossed the first, a whip mark, a few more ran parallel with it. “I dropped a plate,” Fang said, “it broke, it was made of stone, it could be fixed with magic... my master whipped me anyway. He tried to hit the same spot over and over to make it hurt more.”  
“You remember every single scar?” Rita asked, her voice almost catching in her throat.  
Fang nodded. “You would too. They leave an impression.”  
“I don't want to make you relive all of that pain, Fang...” Rita said quietly.  
“I've never told anyone about this before,” Fang said, “I... feel happy talking with you. I want you to know... more about me. It doesn't hurt. It hurt then... now it heals. Please.”  
Rita nodded. Fang had held all this pain to herself for so long, it was the least Rita could do as her friend to let her share it. She moved her hand up, she found a group of scars unlike the others. These weren't made with a whip or a sword, these were small, deliberate. Tallies starting from her left shoulder, more than Rita cared to count, all along the top of her back in rows. They weren't too deep, they were easy to miss beneath the bigger, deeper scars. She touched the first set of tallies. Fang shuddered. “Fang?” Rita asked, concerned.  
“Those,” Fang sounded angry. “I wanted to be a boy. Do the work of the boys. Women and girls were house slaves, I wanted to work outside doing physical labor with the men. My master agreed... I thought it was out of the goodness of his heart... but monsters like him have no goodness. When I was a little older... nine or ten... He made me... do things for him. Things he could have gotten his house slaves to do, but he had... particular tastes. He liked the... I can't remember the word he used. That he wasn't supposed to. You don't use labor slaves for house work, that's a rule. If I resisted he would out me as a girl and I would be a house slave anyway... every time he... added another tally. I wasn't the first. It was a game he played. He starts at your left shoulder and he tells you that once the tallies reach his brand he'll set you free.” She touched her right hip, there was a brand of a snake on the area just below her back and left of her hip. There were scars obstructing it as though she had tried to claw it off. “No one ever lives long enough.”  
Rita was trembling in rage. How could anyone to that to another human? Let alone a little girl? She tried to count the tallies- how many times had Fang had to go through that? How many times had she been... She found herself unable to see the scars anymore, her tears were clouding her vision. She promised herself she would count them later. She would find that monster that did this and she would hurt him. Every tally would mean another day of torture for him. Death was too good for him, he would suffer. For now Rita wrapped her arms around Fang and held her tightly. “I'm so sorry,” Rita said through her tears.  
Fang rested her hands on Rita's. They were so rough and calloused... but warm. Comforting. “I'm free now. All of you... freed me. The scars... don't hurt anymore.”

After a few weeks of travel they came upon a town. “Okay, looks like we get to sleep in beds tonight,” Atlas said as they hitched their mounts. “We need to buy some supplies too. Flynn and I can get us a room at the inn if you three think you'll be able to handle buying supplies all by yourselves.”  
“I think we can handle it,” Rita laughed. “Don't blame me if your portions are a little low for the next few weeks though.”  
Fang's stomach growled. “Okay, maybe Fang should come with us,” Atlas grinned, “she can get some food at the inn.”  
“Sweet, I get to go on a date with Rita!” Gale smiled. Fang glared at him. “A friend date. Like friends do.”  
“Come on, big guy.” Rita said, patting him on the back.  
“Yes, ma'am,” Gale replied, following her.

“They sell actual bags of rocks here,” Gale said, looking at a small pouch filled with round stones.  
“We are in Emerala territory, the people here are more... into rocks, I guess,” Rita said, trying to find some sensibility in the bag of rocks. “I honestly don't know too much about Emerala culture, Fang doesn't talk about it much and I haven't come across many books.”  
“I see you two are interested in the rolling rocks, hm?” The shopkeeper said.  
“More like wondering what they are,” Rita laughed, “we're not exactly from the area.”  
“It's a children's game,” the shopkeeper said, pouring the balls out on the counter. Gale could see now that each one was painted, they were actually quite pretty to look at. There were dozens of smaller ones but only a few large ones. “The goal is to flick the bigger stones into the smaller ones and knock them out of the playing field. Whoever knocks out more wins.”  
Gale laughed. He had played similar games back home when he was a kid. Maybe he would buy it and try and get the others to play with him. “I'd ask how much they cost, but since we're in the Emerala region I'm sure everything is dirt cheap, right?”  
Before Rita could finish groaning at Gale's joke the door to the shop was forcefully kicked open. “Not again!” The shopkeeper squealed, jumping behind his counter in fear.   
Gale looked to the door to see a group of men flood in. All held swords and had bandages somewhere on their body, the face of one was even almost entirely covered. The one who appeared to be the leader had horrible burns across the right side of his face, Gale could see his teeth through his cheek and most of his eye, and half his nose was gone. He lumbered in, dragging his sword. He seemed a little drunk. “Time to pay up, shopkeep, little early this month, but we boys gotta keep you on your toes, eh?” He moved towards the counter and shoved a shelf over on the way, causing it to nearly land on a customer.  
Rita gave Gale a look. It was the “we should probably kick their asses” look. Gale agreed, but he didn't want to wreck the shop, and he and Rita were at a disadvantage in such close quarters. “You want me to tear them to pieces?” Jill asked.  
“Not just yet,” Gale replied. The leader of the bandits walked past them and slammed the hilt of his sword on the counter.  
“Pay up, old man!” He yelled. “Stop crying and give us our damn money, we got places to be!”  
“Hey, buddy,” Gale said, “mind telling me how you got those scars? Looks like you've been... defaced.”  
The bandit glared at him. “Was that supposed to be a joke, boy? You want to know the story behind my face? Behind all of our scars!?” He gestured to his fellow bandits, all standing menacingly behind him. “You don't look like you're from around here, so I'll set you straight, kid. We're the Burned Bandits. And nobody fucks with us, you got that? As for the scars, we got these from a couple'a runts. Fucking children! Guardians, I think. One had a ruby and the other had some fancy yellow stone. A kid with red hair spewing fire and some smarmy brat with curly yellow hair and a stupid fucking hat. Broke into our camp, stole our gold, lured us into a tent and burned the place down. Our whole camp up in flames. We lost almost our entire gang... We were lucky to survive. Those of us that did...” He touched his burned face with a scarred hand. “We didn't come out the same. But we rose, we rose like a fucking phoenix, you hear me! And if I ever find those damned brats I will skin them alive! I'll kill the blonde one and make the redhead eat his friend! I'll torture them for days, weeks, years if they live long enough! I'll make them feel the pain my friends and I went through! I'll-” The one with the bandaged face put his hand on the leader's shoulder. He shook his head. The leader took a breath. “You're right, sorry, I got carried away. It's just... when I think about what those kids did to us... To all of you...”  
Gale and Rita looked at each other. Somehow it seemed like they knew the kids they were talking about. “Hey, Jill, could you get me in touch with Flynn?” Gale asked.  
“Stop calling me that!” she growled. She patched him though anyway.  
“Hey, Flynn, buddy?”  
“Gale?” Flynn replied. “What's up?”  
“You guys finish your errand?” Gale asked.  
“Uh, yeah, Fang just finished eating and we got the room. Did you need something?”  
“Just out of curiosity did you and Atlas ever have a run-in with some bandits way back?”  
“We have had run-ins with a lot of bandits, you'll have to me more specific,” Flynn laughed..  
“You burned their camp down while they were still inside? Ring a bell? Stole all their gold?”  
“Oh yeah! I remember that! That was the first bandit camp we ever raided! Good times. Why do you ask?”  
“No reason,” Gale replied, “If you guys have time you should head over to the shop, we met some old friends of yours.”  
“What exactly does that mean?” Flynn asked.  
“You'll see.”  
“If you say so...”  
The bandit leader had calmed down and was moving to get behind the counter and at the old shopkeeper. As he passed her Rita put her arm out to stop him. He glared at her. “What do you think you're doing, little girl?”  
“I just wanted to get a better look at those sexy scars,” she smiled.  
“Are you making fun of me!?” He growled, lashing out with his empty hand. Rita easily dodged the clumsy blow, grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. She then kicked him in the back and sent him reeling to the floor.  
“Boss!” One of his bandits yelled. They all rushed to his side.  
Gale grinned. Perfect, they were all bunched up. “Let's take this outside, shall we?” He conjured a powerful, concentrated wind and the group of bandits were sent flying out the door. “Ladies first,” he said, gesturing for Rita to follow the bandits.  
“How sweet of you,” she joked, “getting the door for me.”

“What in the world are you kids!?” The bandit leader howled as he and his men got back on their feet. “Not again, I'm not losing to a couple of kids again!”  
The bandits ran at them, swords drawn. Gale fired an arrow into one of their arms before they could even reach them. He dropped his sword and howled in pain. The arrow got him right in the elbow, he wouldn't be using a sword again anytime soon. He didn't want to kill them, that would leave too much of a mess for the townspeople, but they were still bandits, they couldn't just leave them be to pillage another day. Rita conjured a lance of ice, she parried a blow and stabbed her assailant in the knee.   
It didn't take long for them to take out the bandits, compared to the giant monsters or masked men they fought on a regular basis they were amateurs. “Now I hope you all learned a lesson about playing nice with others,” Gale announced to the group of bloody and beaten bandits, many with arm injuries that would never fully recover. “You can't just go around taking money from people. It's rude.”  
Just then Flynn, Atlas and Fang walked towards the group. “Hey, guys, what's going on here?” Flynn asked.  
The bandits all looked at them, wide-eyed. “You!” The leader yelled. “You were the monsters who did this to us!”  
“Huh?” Atlas frowned.  
“Are you telling me you don't remember us!?” He howled.  
Atlas shrugged. “You'd think I'd remember someone with such prominent facial scars.”  
“You're the reason we have these scars!” The leader hissed.  
“Well how am I supposed to recognize you then?” Atlas sighed, “a person looks different when they're missing half their face.”  
The bandit leader looked like he was about to explode. “Who are you people!?” He screamed.  
Gale grinned. “We're heroes.”  
“We are not heroes,” Atlas groaned.  
“we're kinda heroes,” Gale insisted.  
The bandit leader made a sound that no human should make, a howl of fury. He ran at Atlas, his sword raised in the arm he could still use after Rita had slashed though the tendons in the other one. Atlas didn't even flinch. Before the bandit could reach him Fang had grabbed his arm and slammed her palm into his elbow, shattering it. His arm was bent back the wrong direction, they could see the bone sticking out. The bandit was screaming in pain. He fell to the ground.   
“Aw, Fang, gross!” Gale exclaimed.  
“That was pretty nasty,” Flynn agreed.  
Fang shrugged. “I could have ripped his arm off.”  
Atlas knelt down to be face to face with the bandit leader. “You're a monster,” he said through gritted teeth.  
“Maybe,” Atlas smiled. “but we're monsters who protect people who can't protect themselves. You'd think you guys would have learned after the last time. But let me make this perfectly clear, if you ever hurt another innocent person, I won't tell Fang to pull her punches next time.” Atlas stood. “Now you get your friends out of here, and don't come back unless you're looking for honest work.”  
The bandits scurried away, those that could walk helping those that couldn't. “Remember when we were scared of those guys?” Flynn asked.  
Atlas smiled. “Ah, the good old days, before we picked up...” he thought about all the joking insults he could call them, but maybe just this once, “the rest of our friends.”

Rita sighed as she stared into the campfire. It was her turn to watch the camp while the others were out hunting or bathing. Nights like this were boring, she didn't have any books to read, they were hard to find when most people in the towns they visited were illiterate. They must be close to Emerala at this point, right? She moved to Atlas's bag, she knew he had his maps in a notebook somewhere. She wasn't about to go rummaging through his things, but he often left his maps sitting out so anyone could look at them. She picked up the notebook and opened it to one of the first pages. This wasn't the right book, she realized too late. She saw Fang's name and before she knew it she had read the entire page, and she was furious.   
She was waiting when he got back. He had been bathing and it was Flynn's turn after him. Gale and Fang were hunting. It was just the two of them. “You look pissed,” He frowned, “something wrong?”  
“What is this?” She asked angrily, throwing the notebook at him.  
He stared at it for a moment and upon realizing what it was got angry himself. “Were you looking through my stuff!?”  
“It was sitting out!” She snapped, “I thought it was your maps! Don't change the subject, you know why I'm upset!”  
He glared at her. “I don't regret what I wrote in here. This is necessary. You know that.”  
She rushed him. Before he could move she grabbed his collar and pinned him to a tree. The air was frigid. “You're taking notes on how to kill Fang!” She yelled. “And here I thought you weren't an asshole anymore.”  
“Do you think I want to be making plans to kill my friends!?” Atlas hissed, “we need a contingency plan, just in case...”  
“In case what!” Rita demanded, shaking him. “In case you decide you're done with her!? Is she just a slave to you? Someone you can throw away when she's not useful to you anymore!?”  
“Don't you dare say that!” Atlas yelled, pulling himself loose from her grip. “Fang is my friend. But...” He sat down. He looked worried, scared even. “When Ifrit took over Flynn we were lucky to survive. These demons are powerful. Terrifyingly powerful. And yet, Fang was still able to fight toe to toe with that... monster. Fang is strong. Too strong. If a demon were to take her over... we would be dead. The whole world could be in danger. What could stop that?”  
Rita frowned. “So that book...”  
Atlas sighed. “The demons still use our bodies, and our consciousness will still be in there, I wouldn't have been able to reach Flynn, otherwise. So I figure if I can find a way to exploit our weaknesses then I can find a way to beat the demons if we lose ourselves to them. I don't want to do it, but it's necessary. I started with Fang because she's the most dangerous, but I'm doing myself next.”  
Rita sat next to him. “Atlas... I understand. But you're going about this the wrong way. Scribbling in a book in the dark won't help you. For this to work we need to work together. We need to understand the risks and know what we're all thinking. We're a team, we need to have trust.”  
“Easy enough to say,” Atlas said, “but I'm not sure everyone will be okay with me plotting to kill them.”  
“Then clearly you don't know us too well,” Rita smiled. “I think they'll know you have good intentions.”  
“You just tried to kill me.”  
“Yeah, well, I'm protective. Plus, you should have been honest about this from the start. I think we'll make much better plans if we work together to figure out our weaknesses.”  
Atlas gave her a weak smile. “I guess you have a point. I'll tell everyone once they get back.”

“How to beat Fang, huh?” Gale wondered, “maybe a math problem? Or a particularly big word.” Fang nodded in agreement.  
Atlas was surprised at how well the others took it, he hadn't been the only one worried about what the demons could do. “Maybe we can capitalize on her inability to take a compliment,” Rita suggested.  
“Yeah,” Flynn agreed, “we certainly couldn't beat her in a fight, but we might be able to kill her with kindness.”  
Fang was blushing just at the thought of them complimenting her. “It's not just compliments, though,” Gale grinned, “she's just awkward with any show of affection. Especially from pretty girls. Which is why I suggest that if she ever gets taken over we just have Rita flash her boobs! Fang would probably just faint!”  
Atlas rolled his eyes. “You would enjoy that, I'm sure.”  
Fang was staring at the ground, hiding her face behind her hair. “Maybe it's not such a bad idea after all,” Flynn laughed.  
Rita couldn't help but laugh at the thought of it, too. Soon they were all laughing. Atlas felt like a fool for trying to hide this, he had forgotten what it meant to have friends. Though thick and thin they would be there for him. He should have realized. He was glad to have friends like these.


	26. Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flynn and the others return to Emerala

Chapter 26: Free

It wouldn't be long before they reached Emerala, they could see the buildings in the distance. They could have been in the outskirts already- as little as Flynn and the others wanted to go back there they did need supplies before heading into the jungle- but Atlas had taken them on a little detour, keeping his eyes glued to his maps, trying to find something.  
“What are we looking for?” Gale asked for the fourth or fifth time. “Not that I don't love the scenic forest tour, but weren't we in a hurry?”  
“We are,” Atlas said, “but we're almost there, it'll only take a few minutes.” Gale sighed and they continued on. Gale wasn't usually one to complain, but Flynn thought he might have felt guilty about leaving Paige so quickly because of the rush they were in, that and with all the trees it was hard to see the sky and Talon couldn't fly, so he was probably stressed like Fang in Diaem. “We're here!” Atlas grinned, pointing to a certain tree.  
Immediately it all came back to Flynn. It was overgrown now, but he was pointing to Fang's tree house. This was where they had met Fang. Atlas dismounted and the others followed suit. “This is where Atlas and I met Fang for the first time,” Flynn explained to Gale and Rita.  
Rita looked at the nearly unrecognizable house in the branches. “You lived here?”  
“For a bit,” Fang grumbled.  
It was clear this wasn't home for Fang anymore. “You pounced on Flynn right here,” Atlas said, pointing to a spot in the grass. “I remember you said I smelled like the flash in a storm, and Flynn was, uh, cinders, right?”  
Fang nodded. “I have more words now. Lightning. You smell like lightning and metal and gunpowder. And Flynn doesn't smell like cinders anymore. He smells like a roaring fire. Like a strong blade and the hot ground in the sun.”  
“Ooh, ooh! Do me next!” Gale grinned.  
Fang looked at her feet. “You smell... like a spring breeze. Like the clouds and the sky and feathers. And laughter.”  
“Laughter?” Gale asked, raising an eyebrow, “are you saying I have bad breath?” he joked.  
Fang shook her head. “It's a good smell. Hard to explain.” She looked to Rita. “Rita... smells like the sea. Like the cutting cold and the snowfalls, but also like the pages of a book and a warm embrace and...” Fang blushed. “Like... home.”  
Rita smiled. “What about you? What do you smell in yourself?”  
Fang frowned. “Nothing. I can't smell myself.”  
Gale grinned. “Come on, you've got to smell something, right?”  
Fang was quiet. Finally she spoke. “Blood. And death.”  
There was a long silence. Rita looked like she was about to open her mouth, but they were interrupted. People seemed to appear out of the trees, men, women, boys and girls, all holding stone spears or swords, more than Flynn could count. “Who are you!” one of the assailants demanded, “where did you come from!?”  
“The sky,” Gale smiled. One of the girls shoved her spear towards his throat, stopping just a finger's width away. “Tough crowd,” Gale said.  
Ash and Shiva were growling, the situation was tense. “We're just travelers, passing through,” Atlas said. Probably best not to say too much, who knew who they were allied with. Were they looking for a bounty? They weren't guardians or guards, at least they didn't look it. They were dirty and dressed in rags, and their weapons were crude.  
“No one goes in or out,” The girl with her spear to Gale's neck said, “best turn around.”  
“We need supplies,” Rita said, “we'll be on our way as soon as we can, but we need to get into the city.”  
“Find a town somewhere,” one of them hissed.  
Fang twitched. Ash bared his fangs. Flynn knew what that meant. They had moments left before Fang started to attack. She didn't take well to someone threatening her friends, even if they were her own people. “Stand down!” A voice called out. The attackers separated, lowering their weapons. The person that stepped out was no more than a boy. He was younger than any of them, with a mop of shaggy brown hair and piercing green eyes. On his left wrist was an Emerald, just like Fang's. There was a long silence as he looked them all over. “Don't you recognize him?” He asked his followers, gesturing to Fang. “This is Fang Vineheart, the one who started this revolution.”  
Another silence. “Did, uh, did you guys leave something out of all the stories you told us about what you all did in Emerala?” Rita asked.  
“This is news to me,” Atlas said.  
“Maybe I worded that badly,” the boy said, “before Fang no one thought a slave could rebel, the master's word was law, going against him was to assure your death. But Fang escaped. He killed guardians, took their emeralds, gave the rest of us hope.”  
“You're all slaves?” Rita asked, looking at all of them.  
“Former slaves,” the boy said, some of the others seemed angry at the notion, “we are all free men and women now.”  
“So if you guys rebelled why are you hiding in the woods?” Gale asked.  
“It's not quite that easy,” The girl who threatened him snapped.  
The boy gestured for her to calm down. “We are few in number, and my Emerald is the only one we have. No slave is happy, but not all are courageous enough to join us. But now that you've come back, Fang, maybe we could convince more of our people to join us! Now could be the time to stage our rebellion!”  
Fang gritted her teeth. Flynn could tell she was conflicted. She wanted to help, Flynn wanted to help, but the masked men were still a threat, they couldn't just stop to try and start a revolution. “I... can't... now...” Fang said slowly.  
The boy frowned. “If there's any way I could convince you... Here, for now, come with us, we have a modest base, at the very least you can have a hot meal.”  
“There's no harm in that,” Atlas nodded.

The rebels' home base was astounding, a city in the trees. Flynn couldn't believe his eyes. By now most of the leaves had fallen from the trees, but he could imagine the greenery all around, it must have been beautiful in summer. Gale certainly seemed to feel more at home here, a little closer to the sky. The boy took them to his home with a couple of the others and they prepared them a meal.  
“You all manage to stay hidden up here, even with winter coming?” Atlas asked. “The leaves aren't covering you anymore.”  
“We don't need leaves,” the boy explained, “the guardians and guards of Emerala are too busy staring at the ground to look up. They're all fools.”  
Flynn couldn't shake the thought that the boy looked familiar somehow. Like he'd seen him before. The boy looked at Flynn. He seemed a little uncomfortable. “You... recognize me.”  
He did know him! Then it hit him, he was the boy they met in Emerala. The one who tried to steal from them and was attacked by guardians! Flynn smiled, even if just at himself for remembering who it was. “I'm glad you're doing okay,” Flynn said. He wasn't sure what else to say, their meeting had been short, and not terribly enjoyable. The boy had yelled at him and ran away.  
“I owe you an apology,” the boy said, “you tried to show me kindness and I threw it in your face.”  
Flynn shook his head. “Don't worry about it, I know that the guardians in Emerala can leave a bad taste in your mouth.”  
The boy touched his emerald. “I tried to find you. Back then. I heard the outsiders had been sent to find the runaway slave, I thought I could catch you and apologize. By the time I made it there, though, you were all gone. I found this. It was buried, there were others, but they had already returned to the soil. This one alone hadn't broken, as if it was waiting for me. It was then I realized that I could make a difference. It's thanks to all three of you that this rebellion could happen.”  
Atlas shrugged. “All I did was point a gun to your head.”  
“But you didn't kill me,” he said, “any guardian here would have. I haven't even given you all my name, my apologies, I am Aron Stoneblade.”  
“You're well-spoken for a former slave,” Atlas observed.  
Aron looked proud suddenly, Flynn saw a hint of the boy he really was under the weight of rebellion and leadership. “Some of the older former house slaves have been teaching me to read, I'm doing my best to learn many new words, a leader must be able to speak out for his people. They all say I'm a quick learner.”  
“Isn't our leader cute?” The girl sitting next to him said, smiling, it was the same girl who had attacked Gale. Her hair was cropped short and matched her moss-green eyes.  
Aron blushed. “Liz, please, I'm trying to have a meeting here.”  
Liz rolled her eyes. “Sorry, boss.”  
“Anyway,” Aron said, regaining his composure, “do you mind if I ask why you can't help us yet, Fang? I'm sure you're all doing something important, but what exactly is it?”  
Fang frowned. She didn't want to speak, she didn't want to have to reject the people she wanted to help again. Atlas saw and spoke up. “It's a good thing you asked, because you all should probably know. We've been fighting a group of... people. Men in dark robes and white masks. They have powers like we've never seen, and they want to destroy the stones.”  
“Destroy the stones?” Liz asked, “is that even possible?”  
“Not ordinarily,” Rita said, “that's why we're in a hurry. There is... one specific way to destroy them, but the masked men need something and we're trying to get those things before they do.” They were always careful not to mention the demons. Most people probably wouldn't want to help them if they said they were running around the world making pacts with demons.  
“Without the stones there would be no magic,” Aron said, touching his emerald, “would that really be such a bad thing? Magic is the reason we can't fight back with only one emerald. Magic has kept us oppressed.”  
“Honestly, you might be right,” Atlas said, “but those masked men don't care what would be the best for the people, I don't know why they want to destroy the stones, but they will kill anyone who gets in their way, even innocent people who are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”  
“And while it could be good for your city,” Rita explained, “Sapphus would freeze, hundreds would die, and Diaem would fall from the sky, when it landed it could cause an earthquake or a dust cloud that could be detrimental for people everywhere.”  
Aron frowned. “I suppose you're right, but it's still hard to accept that there could be a way to take magic away from the bastards who are keeping us enslaved and we would fight against that.”  
“Those masked men have magic without using any stones,” Gale mused, “it's possible they want to take away our magic so that we can't fight back against them.”  
Flynn hadn't thought about that, but it wasn't a far-fetched idea. Aron rubbed his eyes. He was clearly upset. “I'm done talking about all of this. I'm going to sleep. You will all be taken to a place to rest when you're ready. Come morning you should all head out, you're in a hurry, after all.”  
Flynn wanted to say something, but Aron was already gone. He felt bad, he wanted to help, they all wanted to help. Would a world without magic really be so bad? He was the victim of segregation and suffering because of magic himself. “You have me,” Ifrit said, “we could destroy the Ruby if you wanted. Put everyone on equal ground.”  
“I'm not suggesting that!” Flynn insisted. “We need magic, the guardians help defend us, without it we would be killed by monsters.”  
“Or perhaps you would become stronger to compensate,” Ifrit suggested, “humans adapt to survive. You are fascinating creatures.”  
“I don't want to talk about this.”  
“Always so quick to dismiss the tough decisions. One day Atlas won't be able to decide for you. You will have to make a decision on your own, and live with the consequences.”  
Flynn didn't reply. She was right, he knew it. And he hated it.

“So what do you guys do for fun out here?” Gale asked Liz.  
“Why are you following me?” she growled as she stabbed a tree stump with her spear. The former slaves were training. They were all rough around the edges but they fought hard.   
“I'm drawn to pretty girls?” Gale grinned.  
Her stare almost seemed to cause him physical pain it was so fierce. “Pretty girls?” Jill scoffed, “Look at her, short hair, flat chest, she's practically a boy. What do you see in her?”  
“I guess I like the ones that are mean to me,” Gale joked.  
“Pervert.”  
“Staring at me like an idiot isn't going to do you much good,” Liz growled, “if you want to do something pick up a spear and spar with me.”  
Gale grabbed one of the crudely made stone spears. It wasn't the best weapon, the balancing was bad, but he had trained in spear combat back in the guardian academy. “Well, don't feel too bad if I win, alright?” he joked.  
Liz lunged at him. He easily dodged. He didn't want to hit her. She was untrained, they all were. It was simple enough for him to take her down, a quick sweep of the leg and she was on the ground. She had potential, but she was raw and violent. He offered his hand to help her up, but she batted it aside and stood up herself. Now she was really annoyed with him. “Again!” She insisted, raising her spear again.  
“It'll be the same every time,” Gale sighed. “You need more training. Here, look, your grip is all wrong, put your hands farther apart.”  
He took her hand to move it on the shaft of the spear, but she pulled away and hit him. She then grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against a tree. “Don't ever touch me!” She hissed.  
He looked into her eyes. She wasn't just mad, she was scared. He hadn't realized just what someone touching her had meant to her. Back home it wasn't a big deal. He wanted to hug her or put a hand on her shoulder to console her, but that would only make it worse. To her it was a threat. If someone grabbed her they were dragging her somewhere or trying to hurt her. “I'm sorry,” he said, “I didn't mean any harm.”  
She let him go. “Don't do it again.”  
He looked at her. The scars on her wrists from being shackled her whole life, her tattered clothes and unwashed hair. “I... can't even begin to understand what it is you've been through. Where I come from no one owns anyone else. We all get along, for the most part.”  
“You're lucky,” She grumbled.  
“You want to talk about it? I might not be able to relate, but I can listen.”  
She stared at him like he was crazy. “It's not the kind of thing you talk about. People owned me. Hurt me. Made me do things I didn't want to. I'd rather forget.” There was a pause. “Tell me more about where you come from. Are there really no slaves? How do the rich get any work done?”  
He smiled. “They do it themselves, or they pay someone to do it for them.”  
Her eyes widened. “Pay them? Amazing! What else?”  
He couldn't help but laugh a little. It was a sad laugh, but... He liked seeing her smile. He wished he could take them all to Diaem. He spent the rest of the night telling Liz all about Diaem and his childhood.

Flynn found Aron looking out across the forest alone. “Hey, you okay?” Flynn asked. He was worried about the boy. He seemed troubled, it wasn't surprising with an entire revolution on his shoulders.  
“I thought I dismissed all of you,” Aron grumbled.  
“We aren't your soldiers,” Flynn frowned, “you can't dismiss me.”  
Aron sighed. “It's hard, living like this.”  
“Better than living a slave, though,” Flynn may not have been a slave, but he knew hardship.  
“Of course!” Aron snapped. “but I'm not used to so much responsibility. So many people look to me to be a leader. Just because I found this emerald. I'm not a leader, I'm just...”  
“A kid.”  
Aron was quiet. Then he looked at Flynn. He picked up the sword and shield that had been propped up against the nearby wall. A stone sword and a wooden shield, they seemed painfully ineffective to Flynn. “Fight me.”  
“I didn't mean to offend you,” Flynn insisted.  
“You were right,” Aron said, “I am just a kid. I need to know if I'm strong enough to make a difference. To fight.”  
Flynn didn't want to fight him, but he could hear the resolve in Aron's voice and he drew his sword. Aron attacked and Flynn dodged easily. He couldn't bring himself to swing his sword at a child, so he just dodged over and over again. “Stop playing with me!” Aron growled, “fight back!” Flynn gritted his teeth and swung his sword. Aron blocked it with his shield. The steel bit into the wood and stuck for a moment, Flynn pulled but the wood jumped out and grabbed the blade. Now Flynn understood why his weapons were wood and stone, he could manipulate them with magic. Aron kicked Flynn in the gut, Flynn pulled back and tore his sword free. The splinters of wood shot at him and he called out a small puff of flame to burn them away.  
“The boy means to hurt you,” Ifrit observed, “I suggest you strike with intent as well. Perhaps kill him. At the very least maim.”  
“I'm not going to hurt him!” Flynn snapped.  
“When you are skewered by a tree it will not be on my conscience.”  
Flynn and Aron clashed blades and the stone sword shattered, Flynn suddenly found himself dodging stone shards flying at him. Aron was young but he was clever. He was no pushover. “How do I fight a city!?” Aron yelled as he attacked. “How do I help people who are scared to fight back!? What do I do! I'm just a kid! I just wanted to be free! I just wanted to help people! Why do I- why does it have to be like this!” He was crying. He wanted to be strong, he wanted to be a warrior, but he was crying like the child he was.  
Flynn rushed him, batted his shield aside and hugged him. Startled, Aron dropped his weapons. “Life isn't always fair,” Flynn said. “I was around your age when I met Atlas, and now I'm fighting people who are trying to destroy our world. I know how you feel.” He pulled away. Aron sank to his knees. Flynn sat down. “It's hard. It's so hard, and there aren't any right answers. But you need to do what you believe in. If you think you need to fight then fight. If people look up to you show them strength. Give them something to believe in. I would love nothing more than for you to be just a normal kid, but... I think you're past that. What you need now is to believe in yourself. You're strong and you're smart and you're talented. I think you'll succeed. Of course, that's just my opinion.”  
Aron looked at the ground. He had stopped crying. “Thank you.”

Early the next morning they gathered their things and got ready to head out. Aron provided them with cloaks to cover themselves and hopefully stay out of sight of the guardians. “I suppose this is goodbye,” Aron said as he and a few others saw them off, he still seemed annoyed.  
Fang stepped towards him and looked him in the eyes. “I will be back. Maybe not soon, but I will come back. And I will free everyone.”  
Aron smiled. He believed her. They all did. “I'll be waiting.”  
“Stay alive, guys,” Liz said.  
“Next time we spar you'd better be able to beat me,” Gale grinned.  
“You're on,” she smiled back.

The city smelled different somehow. Anger. Fear... hope, somewhere deep down. There were more guards mulling around, the slaves were all accompanied by someone. When Fang had lived here slaves were trusted enough to go off on their own for certain tasks. They were brainwashed, they knew that running would only get them killed. Now slaves were rebelling, the masters were scared. Good, let them live in fear. They got in and got their supplies without incident, they got a few looks but no one approached them. All they needed now was to get out.   
She smelled him before she saw him. Roses and lilacs. Expensive perfumes and fine cloth. Her blood started to feel hot. Then she saw him. His long green hair, his calm brown eyes. That pretty face and the fancy robes. He was walking towards them, surrounded by guardians, an emerald of his own on his neck. His name was Rys Vineheart, her old master. She could hide her head, he wouldn't see her, they could pass without incident. But she wanted him to see her. To see who she had become. She glared at him, and he saw. And he smiled. She'd seen the smile a thousand times. The smile he gave her when they were alone. The one that when she was young she thought meant she had done well, but as she got older she realized meant that he was getting what he wanted. It was condescending and cruel. He stopped his guards. “And so the wayward slave returns,” he said with the sickly sweet voice she knew too well.  
Rita's hand twitched, uncorking her canteen, if this guy made a move towards Fang he would lose his head. She saw the broach on his robes and recognized it immediately. It was the same symbol that was branded on Fang. She could see now that it was no snake, it was a vine. A thorn covered vine wrapped around a heart. Vineheart. This was the man who had owned Fang. Rita opened her mouth to speak, but Atlas was faster- always so quick to talk. “I don't know who you think you are,” he said, “but she's no slave, she's a free woman.”  
The man looked at him. “She is neither free nor a woman, she is a misplaced piece of property, and she should be returned to her master before I lose my temper.” He looked them all over. “But I haven't even introduced myself. I am Rys Vineheart, Fang here is my property.” He turned his gaze again to Atlas. “I suppose you're the one holding her leash now, hm?”  
Rita flicked her wrist, water slid from her canteen, Atlas tried to speak up again, but Fang stepped forward and they froze. She spoke. “No one holds my leash.”  
Rys glared at her. “That is no way for a slave to speak. Bite your tongue. You will be sorely reprimanded.” He raised his hand and tried to strike her. She grabbed his arm. She looked him in the eye. He was a tall man, and she was barely taller than a child, but somehow she seemed to be towering over him. She crushed his wrist in her hand. Rita could hear the bones crunching. He howled out in pain.  
Fang pushed him to the ground. Rita could see the guards' emeralds glowing, they were trying to use magic, but nothing was happening. “I,” Fang said, stepping forward as Rys tried to crawl away, rocks lifting from the ground around them, “am,” buildings around them began to crumble and tear apart, “FREE!” She slammed her foot into the ground creating a crater beneath her and her former master, sending shards of stone flying in every direction. The earth trembled, a massive earthquake, it was nearly impossible for Rita to keep her footing, the guards and citizens fell to the ground, buildings all throughout the city were falling apart. The tremor lasted for what seemed like an eternity, once it calmed Rita looked around and saw the tall buildings in the distance broken, the stones making them up floating in the air. It seemed like time was stopped, rocks floating throughout the city, Fang holding up the entire city by herself. People ran to get out from under the rubble before she decided to let it go. Fang looked at Rys for a moment longer, the man was terrified. Then she turned and walked away. All at once the debris fell with a massive crash. “Let's go,” Fang said as she returned to her friends.  
“Why didn't you kill him?” Rita asked. “After everything he's done to you... he deserves to die.”  
Fang looked at the ground. She was smiling. “A runaway slave would kill her master to break her chains. A free woman will let him live, because she has the choice. She has no chains to break, and he has no power over her. And for a man like him, knowing that is worse than death.” She was grinning now. “If one slave can break their chains, why not all of us?”  
Rita looked back at the bastard, his guards helping him to his feet. She could see it in his eyes, Fang was right. He was scared. Even so, she wanted to stab him repeatedly. She scowled and looked away. They had a job to do. 

It wasn't long before they reached the jungle, a tangle of trees and vines, the air was heavy with moisture and the ground was soft and damp. Rita felt strong here, there was water everywhere. Flynn, on the other hand, seemed like a wet torch. “Ready to go guys?” Atlas asked as they looked out towards the sprawling jungle. “From all the stories we've heard the monsters here will be more dangerous than anything we've fought before.”  
Fang stepped forward into the jungle. She looked back at the others with a smile. “I'll keep you safe.”  
Rita smiled back. She would. Fang would do anything to protect them, and they would do anything for her. Rys's words echoed in her ears, 'are you the one holding her leash?' He was wrong. She was no slave, no servant, she was their friend. They were a team, and they looked out for each other.

Rys had never felt such pain in his life. He felt like his arm was on fire and it wouldn't stop. He took a sip of wine from his cup. He had asked to be alone in his quarters, it wasn't often he didn't have a guard or a slave with him. Most nights he took the company of one of his house slaves, added another tally to their back. But he didn't trust them anymore. Fang had betrayed him. She was free. He would kill them all, buy new slaves, start from scratch. He looked to his window. There was a man there. How? Where had he come from? How had he gotten in. It was a tall man in a black robe wearing a featureless mask. “Who are you?” Rys asked. “Where did you come from? How did you get past my guard?”  
“Who I am doesn't matter,” the man said, “but you... you are Rys Vineheart, are you not?”  
Rys stood. “I am, what does that meant to you?”  
The man walked forward, Rys found himself unable to move, paralyzed in fear. “Your arm,” the masked man said, touching his broken limb. Suddenly his pain was going away, he felt the shattered bones moving, mending, becoming whole again. What kind of magic was this? “Every person in this city is a slave, even those that consider themselves free, for you are all slaves of the Emerald,” he said. “I detest slaves, people that would be so easily manipulated, people that allow themselves to be controlled. Weaklings who should fight rather than be held captive. Better to die free than live a slave, don't you think?”  
Rys couldn't agree with him entirely, but he did hate slaves. Fang instilled a resentment in him. “Slaves are tools, tools should not fight their masters.”  
The man in the mask inspected his arm. It was completely healed now. “The one thing I hate more than slaves...” his grip tightened, “Is the ones that dare to call themselves masters.” Rys felt it all over again, his arm shattering, his bones crunching. Who was this man? Why was he doing this? Rys tore himself away and ran out of the room. He stopped once he was in the hall. The walls and floor were splattered with blood. His guards were all dead on the floor, sliced to pieces. How had one man killed so many guards? How had he done it without him hearing? He felt a hand on his shoulder. “I'm not quite done with you yet, master” The last word was malicious, cutting, cruel. Rys found his breath catching in his throat as darkness surrounded him. And then the world was gone.


	27. The Monster in the Jungle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team journeys into the jungle west of Emerala to find the demon of the emerald

Chapter 27: The Monster in the Jungle

Flynn jumped to the side as the snake's head whizzed past. He sliced, but his hit was weak, the blade slid off its scales harmlessly. Flynn took a moment to look around. There were a lot of snakes. Every one was massive, bigger around than he was, and so long that they had never seen one head to tail. Oh, and they were poisonous, Fang said their colors gave it away. It had not been an easy trek through the jungle, it seemed like if they touched anything they would die, nearly every animal and most of the plants, one sniff and Fang would tell them to stay away in case it was poisonous. Another snake lunged at Atlas, he stepped to the side and shot it in the eye. Flynn ducked under the next attack and held his sword in place as the snake skewered itself, slicing its head in half. Fang snapped the jaw of a serpent trying ot bite her, simultanoiusly moving to avoid an attack from behind, then grabbed the head of the second snake as it rushed past her shoulder and tore it clean off. Rita was making quick work of the reptiles, freezing them in place, while Gale pinned them to trees with his arrows. Shiva, Ash and Talon were dedicated to protecting the horses.  
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity the snakes stopped attacking. Flynn was tired. The humidity exhausted him itself, but after any fight he felt like he was about to collapse. He missed the dry heat of Ruban. He would take the desert over the jungle any day.  
Gale kiicked himself free from a snake that had been constricting around his leg, now deceased after Atlas had given it a lead ball to the brain. “We were in a bit of a bind there, huh guys?”  
They all groaned. “I do not have the energy for this,” Atlas sighed. “Go home Gale.”  
“Come on guys, let's keep moving,” Rita said, stretching after the battle. Fang and Rita were still full of energy.   
They hadn't made it far before they were stopped again. Rita reached out and grabbed a sliky thread from between the trees in front of her. “What is this stuff?”  
“Oh, no,” Gale said under his breath. Then Flynn saw the eight glowing eyes in the darkness of the trees. A spider so massive that it was a wonder how it stayed concealed- even in the jungle- moved towards them. Its mandibles dripping with venom. It crawled through the huge trees, eyeing them, waiting to strike. “Nope!” Gale exclaimed. “I'm out! Bye guys, going home! Come see me in Diaem once you finish up here!”  
They all looked at him. Rita grinned. “Gale, are you scared of spiders?”  
“Look at its legs!” He said excitedly, “why does it need that many legs!? Why are they so hairy and spindly!? Why is it staring at me with all those creepy dead eyes!? They are unnatural creatures, if you aren't scared of them you are a lunatic!”  
“Well, someone has to take care of this,” Rita laughed, “Fang, care to lend me a hand?”  
Fang nodded. As much as Flynn wanted to help, he was too tired to fight, he had a feeling that Rita and Fang could take it themselves. Fang jumped onto a tree, the wood extended to create a ledge and she used it to leap to the next tree. They had discussed wood magic at length a few days before. It was commonplace for mages in Emerala to manipulate wood, though according to Fang it wasn't as easy as dirt or stone. Emerala was surrounded by trees, the people were acclimated to them and could ask them for aid, the way Fang spoke of magic as asking the ground for help. However, Rita found herself able to use her magic on the wood as well, though unlike sand or metal, when Fang and Rita manipulated wood it wasn't half and half, it was clear that Fang had more control than the princess. Atlas and Rita both found this fascinating, taking this to mean that magic seemed to have nearly limitless possibilities, in addition to somehting like mud, which was half water half earth, now they discover wood is mostly earth with a touch of water, what other intricacies and combinations were there? It all went a little over Flynn's head, but he appreciated that Rita and Atlas found it so exciting.  
Fang reached the spider, aiming a powerful kick towards it. The spider jumped out of the way and the kick sent splinters of wood flying as the tree shattered beneath her foot. Ice appeared beneath the legs of the spider as it tried to land on another tree, it slipped and fell. A web shot from it and caught a tree, as it tried to swing itself to safety Fang jumped into the air after it. A platform of ice formed abover her, she kicked off of it and slammed into the spider, taking them both to the ground. It tried to get up but the vines and roots along the ground rose and held it in place. Fang jumped from its back, landed in front of it and punched it in its face so hard that it exploded into small, bloody pieces.  
Flynn heard Gale scream. He looked at him, an eyeball had landed in front of him. He jumped nearly out of his skin, landing in a tree. “Get it away! Get it away from me!” He screamed.   
Atlas stared at him. “Get out of the tree, Gale.”  
“There are bits of spider down there!” He yelled, “That's almost as bad as a live spider!”  
Atlas grumbled. He picked up the eye, acted like he was about to throw it into the jungle, then turned and threw it at Gale. “Catch.”  
Gale sceeched and hopped to another tree. “Why!? Why do you hate me!?”  
Atlas shrugged. “It makes me laugh.”

“The two of us should take the watch tonight,” Atlas said to Flynn as they all sat around a fire. “Rita and Fang more than pulled their weight today and Gale will probably just wet himself if another spider shows up.”  
“Aww, aren't you boys sweet!” Rita grinned.  
“Play you for the first watch?” Atlas said, extending his arm.  
Flynn groaned. “I always lose.”  
“Come on,” Atlas smiled, “maybe today is your lucky day.”  
Flynn rolled his eyes. “Fine.” Rita watched as they threw out their fists, Flynn's hand opened, all of his fingers out, while Atlas only extended his index and middle fingers, holding his thumb up. “Dangit!” Flynn sighed. “Every time.”  
“What's that game?” Rita asked. “I've watched you guys play it over and over again, but it doesn't seem to make sense, you guys always just make the same hand signs and Flynn loses.”  
“A game from Topal,” Flynn explained, “Atlas showed it to me way back. You choose either pistol,” he extedned his fingers like Atlas had, to represent the barrel of a gun, “arrow,” he extended only his index finger now, like the shaft of an arrow, “or sword,” His hand was flat the way he always did it when playing, like the blade of a sword, “Sword beats arrow since arrows can't pierce a knight's armor, but arrow beats pistol, since arrows are more accurate, and pistol beats sword because it can punch right through armor.”  
“Okay,” Rita nodded, “so why do you always pick sword? Obviously Atlas will win if you're so predictable.”   
Flynn frowned. “That's the tricky part, Atlas told me that you can only pick sword until you win a game, and since he always picks pistol I have no idea how to win!”  
Atlas looked away when Rita glared at him. “Uh huh.” She considered trying ot explain to Flynn that Atlas was just messing with him, but decided to go with the subtler approach. “How about we play a match, Flynn?”  
“Uh, sure,” he said. They played, he threw out sword, of course, and she played arrow. Flynn's eyes widened in amazement. “I won! I actually won! I can play anything I want now!”  
“Good job, buddy,” Rita smiled, shaking her head.  
Atlas sighed. “And I had such a good thing going all this time. So many chores avoided.”  
“I rather enjoyed watching you fail, as well,” Ifrit sighed, “A pity.”  
“What are you talking about?” Flynn asked.  
“Don't worry about it,” Ifrit said. “You are such a lovable idiot, after all.”  
“At least your host isn't a scared little crybaby who's afraid of some dumb bugs,” Jill chimed in.  
“There is nothing wrong with being afraid of spiders!” Gale snapped, “They are terrifying little abominations of nature! Why does string come out? Where does it come from!?”  
“So do we have any idea how close to the demon we are?” Rita asked.  
“Don't ask me,” Ifrit said, “I've told you all before that we won't be able to sense him so lang as he's sealed away.”  
“Close,” Fang said, touching her Emerald. “I can feel him. Calling to me.”

It was hard to explain, but Fang somehow felt grounded. Since they entered the jungle she felt it more and more. Her leg was stiff- but not in a bad way, it felt strong. It was pulling her, bringing her to the demon. She was here. They had arrived. She could feel it. But nothing was here. She stopped. “We're here.”  
They all looked around. “I uh, don't see anything,” Gale said. “There's a big hill, a bunch of trees, but no demon.”  
“Is it below us?” Atlas asked. “It is the demon of earth after all, so maybe he's hiding underground.”  
Fang knelt and placed her hand on the ground. She could feel everything, her senses were sharper than usual, she could almost see the entire jungle in her mind's eye. The monkeys in the trees, the snakes, the spiders, the giant lumbering beasts that scarcely moved. There it was. She could see him. Feel him staring at her. Waiting for her to come to him. “Not quite.”  
Fang slammed her foot into the ground, the earth shook below them and the hill before them rose. It seemed at first like Fang was lifting it, but it quickly became apparent that it was now moving on its own. It rose and rose, and when it seemed it couldn't rise any more it kept going. The creature was massive. Its legs shook the ground with each movement, its back towered high over the massive trees. It lowered its head and looked at them. A turtle, trees and rocks sitting on its back like an island. Its pupil was as wide as Fang was tall. It stared at her. It couldn't speak, but she knew what it was saying. “Face me. Prove yourself.”  
“Please tell me we aren't fighting this,” Atlas said, his voice wavering. It was the largest beast they had ever seen, the sand worms from the desert seemed tiny in comparison.   
Before Fang could answer it raised its unthinkably large foot and moved it towards them. They scattered, all but Fang, who stood solidly in place. “Fang!” Rita called out, turning to try and grab her. Gale took Rita's arm and pulled her out of the shadow of the foot as it fell.   
Fang raised her arms and caught the foot. It was pressing down, her muscles screamed, but the dirt and the rocks, even the plants were on her side, pushing back with her. The foot didn't fall, it held in place in her hands.   
“I have officially seen everything,” Atlas muttered, looking at the tiny girl holding up the weight of a turtle the size of a city.  
“Hey, guys, how about some support for her!” Rita yelled. She called forth an eruption of ice around Fang, pressing the foot upward. Gale sent a massive gust of wind towards its chest, trying to knock it off balance, while Flynn shot flaming slashes through the air at its leg. Atlas shot at its eye, but the lead ball seemed to disappear, nothing more than a fleck of dust to the massive beast. Atlas released the charge he had hidden in the projectile, electrocuting it from the inside. It reared back and as it landed the earth trembled, nearly knocking them over.   
“Rita!” Fang growled. Rita nodded and the vines from the ground and in the trees shot out and latched on to it, wrapping around any part of its body they could. It opened its mouth and let out a deafening roar.  
“Gale, Flynn!” Atlas yelled as he threw a bomb. Gale launched it towards the gaping maw with a blast of wind, while Flynn lit the fuse. Once it had entered its mouth Fang jumped forward and kicked its jaw, slamming it shut. They could hear the muffled explosion, it opened its mouth again, blood and smoke pouring out. It didn't seem to do much but piss it off, but it did more than anything else they had done. The heat and the force couldn't have felt good, but he didn't have enough bombs to keep throwing them at it. He had an idea. What was an explosion but heat and force, right? The bomb added the shrapnel, but if they could recreate it... “Flynn, Gale, I have an idea!” He yelled to them.  
“Is it that we stop fighting the giant turtle that could eat us and not even realize it?” Gale asked.  
“Fire an arrow somewhere you think it will stick!” Atlas ordered.  
“You got it, chief!” Gale said, firing an arrow into its leg.  
“Now make it explode!”  
“That is not a thing we can do, Atlas!” Flynn said, avoiding a branch falling from a tree being torn by the struggle.  
“An explosion is just heat and force,” Atlas explained, “fire and wind! I'm sure you guys can figure it out!”  
Gale and Flynn looked at eachother and shrugged. Worth a shot. A few moments later the arrow exploded in a fiery blast. “Holy crap that was cool!” Gale grinned. “Flynn, on my arrows!” “Jill, can you time them for me so they're not hitting all at once?”  
“Are you asking a demon to lend you her power?” Jill scoffed.  
“I'm asking my friend for a favor.” Gale smiled. “And if you can connect me to Ifrit and Flynn so we can coordinat the attack, please?”  
“Ugh, why are you so needy? Fine.”  
Gale fired a volley of arrows into the air. He focused his magic into the point of each one while Jill adjusted their trajectory so they would hit in tandem. As each hit Flynn ignited the explosion, causing balls of fire all over its body as the arrows hit.   
Fang launched herself off the ground and landed on its shell, kicking hard. The shell was covered in dirt and stone and trees, and it was nearly unbreakable. She began to tear up the earth embedded in its back and slam it back down into the shell. To her surprise it didn't try to knock her off. It continued to try and attack the others. And then suddenly there was a snake. Just as big as the turtle itself. Where did it come from? Why was it attacking her? She followed its body and saw that it wasn't a snake, it was the tail of the beast. It had a snake for a tail. Why did it have a snake for a tail? Not that it mattered much, she just needed to defeat it. It struck at her and she dodged. She slammed her foot into the shell and every piece of earth launched upward, she brought it together and created a golem of dirt, stone, trees and vines.  
“What is that thing!?” Atlas exclaimed, pointing to the golem fighting a giant snake on the back of the turtle.  
“Is this real life?” Gale asked. “I'm feeling a little shell-shocked.”  
Flynn watched in amazement as Fang's construct of earth grabbed the enourmous snake by the neck and tore it out of the turtle's shell and flung it into the jungle, writhing and spraying blood as it flew. The turtle howled in pain, the golem turned, its entire mass forming into a single pillar, and slammed down on the beast's head, knocking it to the ground.  
Fang jumped off the turtle's back. It had stopped moving. “That was amazing!” Flynn yelled, running up to her. “How did you do that!?”  
Fang shrugged. “Magic.” She turned. The turtle's head retracted into its shell. “Oh no,” Gale sighed, “are we not done?”  
“It's calling for me,” Fang said, walking towards the cave that was the giant shell.  
“Oh good,” Gale laughed, “glad that really did have something to do with the demon, and we weren't just fighting a giant snake-turtle for no reason, because running with us you never know.”  
Rita placed her hand on Fang's shoulder. “Be safe, okay?”  
Fang looked at her amd smiled. “Nobody get killed while I'm not here to protect you.”  
They all smiled back. “We'll try,” Atlas said, “no promises.”  
No one said another word. Fang was never one for words. She knew how they felt, and they knew she would be safe. She took a deep breath, picked out the scents of her friends, remembered them, and stepped into the cave.

She could feel the magic thick in the air, but that was her only sense that seemed to work. It was dark, silent, scentless, her feet could feel the cool, hard ground, but nothing more. She heard footsteps behind her. She turned, and suddenly she could see perfectly. The cave was covered in grass and moss, lights seemed to be streaming in from holes in the ceiling that she knew didn't exist. Rita was standing before her. They stared at each other for a moment. “I... was worried about you,” she said. “I followed you in. I'm sorry.”  
“You... shouldn't be here.”  
Rita walked towards her. “I know, but I couldn't let you go alone.” She looked around. “Nothing seems to be here, huh?”  
“I can feel him, but...” Fang gave the cave another glance. “Nothing.”  
“Maybe we should rest,” Rita suggested, “I'm sure you're tired after the fight.”  
She was. She had used a lot of strength and magic, she didn't want to admit it, but she was running low on energy after all of that. Rita led her to a long shelf of stone that they could sit on. She sat close. Closer than Fang was comfortable with. She yawned. It was cute. She laid her head on Fang's shoudler. Fang blushed. “What are you doing?” she grumbled.  
“I just need a little nap,” Rita mumbled back.  
“We shouldn't sleep here,” Fang insisted, “It's dangerous.”  
“I know,” Rita sighed. She wrapped her arm around Fang. “Do you ever want to stop fighting, Fang?”  
Fang found it hard to talk. Rita was too close. She found it hard to breathe, her words caught in her throat, her face was hot. “I... need to fight. Keep you safe. All of you. My friends.”  
Rita lifted her head and looked Fang in the eyes. “But what if we stopped fighting? Settled down? We could build a house somewhere. Live... together. Maybe...” She was drifting closer and closer to Fang. Just when it seemed like their noses would bump, Rita tilted her head, closed her eyes, Fang could feel her breath on her lips, cool and inviting. Fang found herself inching closer, her lips seeking out Rita's. She could smell her so clearly. Her scent... it was wrong. Fang pulled away, jumped back. How had she not noticed? She smelled wrong, she wasn't Rita. Rita would never have followed her, the others wouldn't have let her. She would never want to stop fighting, she needed to get back to her people, to save her people. This was the demon. She growled.  
The false Rita smiled. “I am impressed, little one.”  
She disappeared into dust and in her place stood the demon. He reminded her of a gorilla. His arms were large and heavy, resting on the ground, but his legs were smaller, curled beneath him. The only skin he seemed to have was around his eyes, most of his body was covered in hard white wood, while he wore a mask of stone, covering his nose and mouth, and a stone plate covered his forehead, two small horns poking out of it. His hair was thick and green, like vines crawling down his back. His eyes seemed to look into her soul, pure, calm green pools staring at her.  
“For what have you come, child?” the demon asked.  
“For you,” Fang replied.  
He nodded. “I knew as much. I have seen your memories. But I was cuious to hear how you would word your request. You should know, making a pact with one such as myself is no simple task.”  
“I'll beat any test you have,” Fang insisted.  
“No more tests,” the demon said, “only questions.” He stared at her. “You look disappointed.”  
“The others got to fight things.”  
He laughed. Demons could laugh, she learned. “I considered a combat challenge, but after you defeated the beast to get in here, I was sure there was nothing I could throw at you that you would not easily defeat. Instead I preyed on your emotional weaknesses, but even that you overcame.”  
“So, what, then?” Fang asked. “What do you need? Just come with me.”  
“Patience, my little warrior,” the demon said. “I am a demon of regret. I must assure myself that you will be a proper partner for me.”  
“I don't want your power,” Fang hissed, “I only need you so the masked men won't have you.”  
“You have only come for me because your friends had asked you to, correct? What would you care if I were used to destroy the Emerald? You claim to be free, and yet... you follow the orders of your friends without question. Are you not still a slave, then?”  
She glared at him. “I follow their orders because I want to, not because I'm scared of them. I choose to follow them, I don't have to. They are my friends, so I fight to protect them.”  
The demon nodded. “What do you regret, little one? You have killed so many, more faces than I imagine you could even recall. Does it ever eat at you? Do you regret the lives you have taken?”  
Suddenly she was surrounded by bodies, every one was someone she had killed. She recognized the wounds, if not the faces. The smell of their blood, the taste of their flesh... “No,” Fang said calmly. She wasn't lying, he could see inside her mind, he would know. “I kill to survive. To protect. I kill so that the others don't have to. It's my place to be the monster so that they can be heroes.”  
He seemed to think on this. “Then what about the one life you did not take?” Rys stood before her now. “After all he did to you, you let him live. Could you not have improved the lives of his slaves by taking his life? Rid the world of one more master?”  
Fang shook her head. “Had he died his slaves would have been auctioned off to men just as cruel. Those that weren't bought would be killed. Killing him would accomplish nothing. Besides, it's not the place of a monster to kill another monster.”  
“Monster,” the demon said, “you call yourself monster, and yet you do not regret what you've done. Why do you consider yourself a monster, child?”  
She got quiet. “Monsters are a necessary evil. I accept who I am. I'm not a hero. I kill people. I'm not ashamed of that, but I understand what it makes me.”  
“Despite what you may seem to others, you are quite an intelligent child.” He looked at her. “Such a complex child. Even the princess, your closest friend, does not truly understand you. All of her talk of being proud to be a woman, it was not what you wanted to hear, was it?” Fang was brought back to the early days with Rita, when she was telling her to be whatever she wanted to be. “You didn't want to be a woman, nor a man. You simply didn't care. You still don't. At one time, perhaps, it bothered you, but now... you simply wish it wasn't somehting everyone cared about. That it didn't matter. And yet for her you have accepted your womanhood. Why change for her?”  
Fang found this difficult to reply to. She never felt like she had been lying, or faking it, but he was right, she had accepted Rita's ideas because she wanted her to be happy, not because she truly felt any differently. In the end she thought it was stuipid to care whether someone was a man or a woman, she could still kill a man just as quickly no matter if she was being called “he” or “she” at the time. “Because...” She trailed off. “It doesn't matter what I want, if I can make my friends happy. I would endure anything for them.”  
“Your selfless nature will come back to bite you one day if you aren't careful,” the demon said. “Do you ever think all your friends may want is for you to be honest with them and with yourself?”  
“Are we done talking yet?” Fang grumbled. “I don't like talking.”  
He laughed again. “Apologies, I have gotten carried away. Very well, if you would have me, we may make your pact.”  
“Finally,” Fang said. “Get in.” She gestured to her emerald.  
He reached out, his vine-like fingers touching the stone. His body quickly disappeared and rushed into the emerald, Fang felt his power inside her. She understood what Flynn and Gale had warned her about, she felt like she would explode from the energy surging through her. She gritted her teeth and waited for it to pass. Once it was done she heard him speak.   
“It is done. Now, if I'm not mistaken, we have places to go, do we not, my little warrior?”  
Fang grunted. She didn't like having someone else in her head. She headed out of the cave. Once she had exited she looked back and saw that the turtle had turned to stone now that the demon was gone. Her friends rushed to greet her. “Are you okay?” Rita asked.  
“Did you get the demon?” Atlas questioned.  
“What was it like?” Flynn wondered.  
“He's here,” Fang replied.  
“Greetings,” the demon said to those who could hear.  
“Hello,” Flynn said, “What should we call you?”  
“You may call me Gaia.”  
“Hmph, sentimental fool,” Ifrit muttered.  
“What do you mena by that?” Gale asked.  
“Gaia was the name of the first guardian of the Emerald,” Jill explained, “The same person who locked him away.”  
“He was a kind boy,” Gaia said, “The poor child wept when he sealed me away, despite my protests that I understood his reasons.”  
“Man, Fang got such a nice one,” Gale said aloud, “Jill always just calls me names and berates me.”  
“Who knew there were nice demons,” Atlas joked.  
“Well,” Rita smiled, “three down, two to go. More than halfway there.”  
Atlas grinned. “Time to head north, huh?”  
Rita nodded. “Time to head home.”


	28. Scary Stories to Tell in a Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group tells each other scary stories from their home cities as they wait out a blizzard

Chapter 28: Scary Stories to Tell in a Storm

The journey out of the jungle was much easier than the one in. The beasts and monsters seemed to avoid them, as if Gaia was repelling them. They headed directly north from the jungle to avoid returning to Emerala, all of them were looking forward to their return to Sapphus, almost all of them had something waiting for them there. Rita had her family, Flynn had the kids, at the very least learning they had gotten back to their families, Atlas wanted to see Demi again, and Fang had made an impact on many of the citizens, whether she had tried to or not. Gale had never been, but he was excited to see the city, nonetheless, anything to get out of the forest and have the sky above his head again.  
“Are we sure this is a good idea?” Atlas asked as they headed north, the trees thinning as they traveled, giving way to marshes and frequent rivers. “Last time we went north during the winter we nearly died.”  
“Well, you guys didn't have me back then,” Rita grinned, Shiva bounding ahead, leading them forward. “Between Gale and myself we should be able to keep us safe from just about any storm.”  
Sure enough, the air began to cool as winter fell. It wasn't long before the storms started, only getting worse as they headed further and further into Sapphus territory. It made Rita smile. This was what she grew up seeing. True to her word Rita protected them. The travel was much easier than it had been before. They were cold, and the mounts had trouble bounding through the ever deepening snow, but it was no longer Flynn alone keeping them warm and alive. Rita and Gale could take turns keeping the storm at bay.   
Rita watched her breath form wisps of warm air in the cold and smiled. Snow swirled around them as they sat around the campfire but didn't touch them. “Nights like these,” she said, “heavy storms, Demi and I used to tell each other scary stories, I'd tell him one I'd read about and he'd tell me something he'd heard from the kids outside the wall.”  
“What kind of scary stories do you have in Sapphus?” Flynn asked.  
“Well there's The Witch of the Woods,” Rita replied.  
Atlas frowned. “You mean like Baba? There were stories about her? How long was she... doing what she did?”  
“Right, you guys wouldn't know,” Rita said, “The Witch of the Woods was a story long before Baba. If anything she was just emulating the story. Allegedly there's been someone like her every generation. Some say it's a madness that catches women who wander too far into the woods, others say it's an inhuman monster, I'm not sure whether or not any Witch actually existed before her, but there were definitely stories. From what you told me Baba would... well, eat kids. The original story tells of an old woman who would approach children who were alone in the forest outside of the city. She would lure them out of earshot of anyone and she would slit their throat, then drag them underneath a tree and sit them up, leaving them there to be found. Their friends would follow the trail of blood and find the child sitting beneath a tree with a bloody neck. They would claim it looked like they were wearing a red scarf that trailed into the snow. There have even been songs written about it to warn kids to stay out of the woods, and it's considered bad luck to wear a red scarf in Sapphus.”  
“Horrifying,” Atlas muttered, shaking his head.  
“Chilling,” Gale added.  
Atlas punched him in the arm. “Not the time.”  
“I've got a scary story from Diaem to tell,” Gale grinned.  
“Oh, come on, are we really doing this?” Atlas sighed.  
“I'm curious,” Flynn smiled.  
“How can you not want to learn more about the culture of the other cities?” Rita teased, “isn't that kind of your thing?”  
Atlas rolled his eyes. “Fine. Go ahead. But no puns.”  
“I cannot make you impossible promises,” Gale said. He leaned closer to the fire and lowered his voice, trying to set an ambiance. “There's a story in Diaem, of a beautiful woman who loved a man. She lived just to see him every day, she would talk to him, smile at him, flirt with him, and he would talk and smile and flirt right back. The two began seeing each other, they became... intimate. Then, one day, the woman discovered that she was not the only woman in his life. He had been seeing four other women. She was furious. So much so that she took a pitchfork from his home, found the homes of the other women and stabbed them to death while they slept. Once she had killed them she went after the man. However, he knew what she had done and he ran from her. He ran all the way to the outskirts of the city, to the falling islands. She caught up to him, but before she could kill him herself he fell. She dove after him, but he hit the ground below before she could reach him, and her soon after. And legend says that if you go out to the falling islands late at night you can still hear her wailing in the wind. Her ghost calling out for the head of the man that betrayed her. It calls out from below, but if you look down there is nothing. And when you turn around to head home you see a woman, covered in blood holding a pitchfork, and she screams out LIAR! As she raises her bloody weapon to your throat.”  
Atlas looked pale. There was a short silence. “What a... stupid story,” Atlas mumbled. “Ghosts don't... ghosts don't exist. What's scary about that?”  
“Oh, my Queen,” Rita grinned, “Atlas, you're afraid of ghosts, aren't you!”  
Atlas jumped. “No! I'm not! Why would I be afraid of something impossible!”  
“I wouldn't say ghosts are impossible,” Gale shrugged.  
“When someone dies they return to the stone,” Atlas said firmly, “ghosts can't exist.”  
“Who's to say that some souls don't make it back for one reason or another?” Rita suggested. “Those wandering souls would become ghosts, right?”  
Atlas gritted his teeth, he almost looked sick. “I am done with this conversation.”  
Gale snickered. “You are so scared of ghosts, dude.”  
“You're afraid of spiders!” Atlas snapped.  
“At least spiders exist,” Gale smirked.  
“You just- agh!” Atlas groaned.  
Flynn laughed. “Okay, Atlas, come on, your turn, tell us a scary story from Topal.”  
“I was never really interested in learning things like that,” he mumbled.  
“Oh, come on,” Flynn insisted, “I'm sure you've heard at least one or two.”  
Atlas sighed. “I guess there's... uh, the Headless Man story. Some people claim they hear a clanking in the streets at night, and when they look out their window they see a man limping through the streets, but he has no head. People say it's a ghost or whatever, but I think it's probably just a mechanical puppet someone's using to play a prank.”  
“Wow, you really suck at telling scary stories,” Gale said.  
“Shut up!” Atlas growled. “I told you I wasn't interested in this from the start!”  
“Well, how about you, Flynn, do you have one?” Rita asked.  
“Oh yeah!” Flynn smiled. “The kids in the slums used to be terrified of this one! Okay, so there's a story in the slums. They say that if you wander into the abandoned streets at night you'll get... a strange feeling. A warm moistness in the air. An odd smell. Then, if that hasn't scared you off yet, you'll start hearing a sound. Like a... wet slap. Over and over, like footsteps. If you look behind you, then, you'll see a dark figure, always just out of the light. If you walk away calmly he won't follow, but if you try to run he'll only get closer to you. And no matter where you run you'll find yourself alone, at a dead end. Then you feel wet tendrils on your neck, and when you turn around you see him- a man- but instead of his face all you see is noodles! With eyes nestled inside!”  
They all looked at him, then Gale started laughing, then Rita, even Atlas laughed. “How is that scary?” Gale choked out.  
“Are you kidding!?” Flynn exclaimed, “Every kid in Ruban is terrified of Noodleface!”  
“Noodleface!?” Atlas cried out, laughing himself to tears.  
“What does he even do to you?” Gale asked, “dude's made of noodles, you could defeat him with a pasta strainer!”  
“I mean, he like, strangles you or something. Or maybe burns you with the hot noodles. I'm not really sure, but a guy with noodles for a face is pretty scary in my opinion.”  
Atlas managed to stop himself from laughing, wiping the tears from his eyes. “The people of Ruban are not known for their intellect, that's for sure.”  
Flynn frowned. “Noodleface is totally scary, guys. You're all just weird.”  
“Okay, okay, I'm sure Noodleface is super scary,” Rita nodded. “I just thought of another legend from Sapphus, actually, and it's pretty appropriate for tonight.”  
“Go for it, we've fallen a bit off the scary train,” Gale smiled.  
“So there's a story about the origin of blizzards,” Rita said, “history tells that the first great storm happened after the death of the first Queen of Sapphus. She was the sister of the first Guardian, and she died shortly after her first daughter was born- the Child Queen, for those interested. The night of her death there was a great storm, one devastating enough to bury the entire city at the time in snow, but the Guardian single-handedly protected the city. That's why we had that festival you went to, to commemorate his saving the city. Some people claim that the storm was the Sapphire crying over the death of a Queen... but others claim that the storm was the Queen's spirit trying to take vengeance on her killer. It was thought that she died of sickness, but it was later found that she was poisoned. Her killer was eventually caught and sentenced to death, but that night there was another storm, and the man froze to death in his cell. In an underground cell, which was meant to be protected from storms. Since then, any time a Queen or Princess dies there is a great storm, and many claim that they can see the silhouette of a woman in a dress walking through the storm.” Rita stopped speaking and stared into the storm. “No, it couldn't be...”  
They all turned to where she was looking, and before them was the shape of a woman wearing a dress, gliding towards them through the storm. Atlas screamed and jumped off his seat. The figure fell to pieces, revealing itself as nothing more than a pile of snow, and Rita laughed. “Oh, man, you totally thought that was a ghost, dude!”  
“I hate you!” Atlas hissed, throwing a handful of snow at her face.  
Gale chuckled. “That was pretty good, I have to admit.”  
“Very scary,” Flynn agreed, shivering.  
“I'm sorry, Atlas,” Rita sighed, “we're just messing around.”  
Atlas rolled his eyes. “Well, while we're at it, what about you, Fang? Got any scary stories from Emerala?”  
Fang stared at them. “Where I come from... they tell stories of men that keep other humans as property, force them to do things they don't want to, and torture them if they disobey.”  
“Right, okay,” Gale said uncomfortably. “Guess story time is over, then.”  
“Humans are weird,” Jill said to the other demons.  
“It is a bit odd that they find enjoyment in being afraid,” Gaia agreed.  
“How did the others not think Noodleface was scary?” Ifrit asked.  
“You're kidding, right?” Jill frowned.  
“His face is made of noodles!” Ifrit insisted, “That is terrifying.”  
“Thank you!” Flynn said aloud.  
Gale shook his head. “You guys from Ruban are weird, man.”


	29. Shattered Sapphire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rita's return to Sapphus

Chapter 29: Shattered Sapphire

As they saw the Sapphire City rise on the horizon Rita couldn't help but grin. As much as she enjoyed traveling, she had missed her home. She had missed the cold air and the snow. The smell of the sea and the icy walls. Curiously they didn't run into any Guardian patrols on their way to the walls. There was always at least one scouting the perimeter. She supposed they must have just missed them, though it troubled her, if they could get through who's to say a monster or the masked men couldn't do the same unnoticed?  
Once they had reached the outskirts of the slums Rita knew something was wrong. She couldn't believe her eyes. It was worse than the first time she had seen them. There were no guardians to be seen, the people were shivering, buried in snow, many were dead, the rest were following close behind. Their fires were weak, and they all seemed resigned to their fate. “Flynn, Gale!” She ordered without a thought as to how this was happening. She only had one concern- save these people. With a wide sweep of her arms she pushed all of the snow she could see out of her way, uncovering bodies and even a few people who were still clinging to life. She created a wall with the snow, packing it tight to seal in any heat they could. Meanwhile Gale kept the snow from falling on the people, allowing it instead to build on the walls Rita had created. Flynn began lighting fires where he could.  
Rita dismounted Shiva and began to tend to the people, Atlas and Fang joining her, giving out any food or blankets they could spare. “What happened here?” Rita asked a woman who seemed at least somewhat cognizant. “Before I left I ensured that the slums would have Guardian protection. I don't see a single one out here, not even guards at the gates.”  
The woman looked at her with glassy eyes. She reached out and touched the Sapphire on Rita's neck. “It's been a long time since I've seen one of these. Who are you? Are you... here to help us?”  
Rita felt tears falling down her cheeks. It hurt to see her people suffering like this. “Yes. I'm here to help you. Here, get close to the fire. Warm up.   
“My son... he needs the fire. He must be cold. So cold.” The woman moved to a frozen lump on the ground- a lump that was once a child. It wasn't moving. She tried to wake him. “John. John, wake up.” She called out over and over again. Rita bit her lip. She clenched her fist. She needed answers. Someone would answer for this. Who would allow this to happen? But first things first they needed to help the rest of the people in the slums, they had only cleared the snow in one small area, they needed to circle the entire city.   
She stood and looked around. Flynn was warming the children that had survived, Fang was raising shelters of stone, Atlas was trying to wake those who were close to drifting off in an endless slumber- the gates. The gates were opening. She mounted Shiva and rode towards them. Had they finally sent Guardians? No, these were no Guardians. Their tigers were chained, bound like the slaves in Emerala, no Guardian would chain a tiger, they were proud beasts. And the men riding them wore black cloaks and white masks. “No,” she said under her breath. Her eyes widened and she let out a guttural hiss of fury. The three masked men were suddenly bombarded by a shower of ice from the sky, tearing their flesh to pieces, splattering the ground with their blood. One of the masked men rose. His mask was that of a tiger. How dare he wear the visage of the beast of her city. She impaled him with a spike of ice, but his body turned to darkness and he avoided the attack. She didn't care that her attacks were ineffective, she wanted to hurt him. Over and over she stabbed him with ice, each strike as useless as the last. Suddenly there was an explosion, fire covered the masked man and he howled in pain as his body writhed like shadows in torchlight. Flynn seemed to appear out of nowhere, his sword aflame, and he sliced the man in two, for good this time.   
The explosion had come from a bomb, she had seen it for a brief moment. She looked at Atlas. “I didn't throw it,” he said.  
“That was mine,” a figure said. A person in hooded leather armor stood to the side, out of sight of the battle. “Welcome back, princess, sorry it isn't a nicer homecoming.”  
“What has happened here!?” Rita demanded.  
The person looked down. “Come with me. We can't talk out here, more masked men will come soon.”  
“We can't just leave these people!”  
“There are much larger problems here than the cold, princess. I know how you feel, but we can't save everyone. We need to retake the city.”  
Retake the city? Deep down Rita knew what that meant, but she kept telling herself she was mistaken. She reluctantly followed their savior.

The hooded person revealed herself to be a young woman, attractive save the scars across her face. She had short, pale blue hair and white eyes. She introduced herself as Kyna. “Where exactly are we going?” Rita asked. They seemed to be circumventing the city, heading toward the Northern Sea in a very roundabout way.  
“Headquarters,” Kyna said, “a lot has happened while you've been gone, Princess. But now that you're here. Now that all of you are here, maybe we have a chance.”  
“Can you please just tell me what's happened!” Rita demanded.  
Kyna frowned. “I think there's someone else it would be better for you to hear it from.”  
Rita didn't like how evasive she was being, but she kept quiet. The others were silent as well. Even Gale. Seemed they weren't sure what to say. After what seemed like an eternity of travel they arrived at the edge of the sea. “Here,” Kyna said, gesturing to a sewer drain.  
“A sewer,” the memory rushed into Rita's mind. This was where she had fought with the rebels. Where Vlad had killed their leader. Did this have something to do with them?  
Kyna led them through the sewers now, and they traveled for what Rita thought was an hour or more. Finally they arrived to the central chamber where the rebels had set up their base. It seemed eerily similar. Homeless and downtrodden people huddling for warmth and hiding in hide tents. But throughout it all there seemed to be more of an almost military presence. People in leather and hide armor moving with a purpose, stocks of weapons scattered about. What was she looking at? They were lead to what appeared to be the command center, a large tent, this one completely built, no holes, with flaps for doors. They left their mounts outside of it and were ushered in. Inside was what seemed to be a war room. A table with a map of the city on it, a few people talking over it, weapons and armor within arm's reach, and what appeared to be a small workshop near the back.   
Kyna took them to the workshop area. The person working there turned to greet them. He gave them a weak smile. “Rita, Atlas, good to see you again.”  
Rita hugged him, crying. “Demi, I'm so glad to see you. I'm so happy you're okay.”  
“I'm happy to see you guys, too,” He replied. “Though I've seen better days.” He was right. He looked older. He looked tired. He'd let his hair grow out, it was tied in a short ponytail to keep it out of the way. He wore a tattered cloak, draped over his right arm.  
Rita reached out and moved the cloak. There was nothing underneath. An empty sleeve. “Demi, your arm!” Atlas exclaimed.  
“Oh, wow,” Demi said, looking at it. “I hadn't noticed, thanks for pointing it out.” Demi smiled. “I've missed you, Atlas.” He touched his necklace, and in turn Atlas touched his own.  
“Demi, what's happened here?” Rita asked once she had calmed herself.  
“Where to even start,” Demi sighed. “I guess it started with the death of Charles Verndadt, the leader of the rebellion that previously holed up in here. You were there for that so I don't think I need to tell you how that went down. Most of the rebellion was taken out, but the Guardians didn't know about Rasputin, Charles's second in command, he had been away with a group of rebels, and when they came back to all those dead comrades, well, needless to say, they were pissed. Of course, they couldn't do anything, they were a handful of men against a city. One that was supporting them less now that you had shown your face and seemed to be making changes. Now, all of this we've learned though spies and putting two and two together, so I'm not sure exactly how it went down, but somehow these masked men approached Rasputin. He got powers like them, some of his men did, too, and he... changed. His hair, his eyes, he just looked different. Not to mention he's completely mad. He used to talk of equality... now look at the city. Whatever they did to him was more than just a power boost. I swear, we've killed the man a dozen times and he always comes back.   
“Anyway, Rasputin asked for an audience with the Queen, and unfortunately, he got it. And who showed up but the man in the faceless mask. The one you guys told me about.”  
Flynn's eyes flickered. “Is he still here?” he asked.  
Demi shook his head. “No, but he left me something to remember him by.” He gestured to his missing arm. “I would have died if it weren't for that fire bomb prototype you left behind, Atlas. Blew up as he was busy eating my arm, and let me tell you, he does not like fire. That's why I've been making more of those bombs to use against the ones with the weird smoke bodies. Doesn't kill them, but it certainly stuns them. I managed to sneak through the tunnel in my workshop that lead to the sewers, luckily he didn't see where I went, and my workshop burned to the ground and the tunnel caved in afterward. Ever since I've been gathering up every able-bodied person I can to fight back against these bastards and take back our city.”  
“You've been leading a revolution?” Atlas asked.  
Demi nodded. “Not exactly my cup of tea, but I didn't have much choice.”  
“What about my parents?” Rita asked, “or your father? Where are they? Shouldn't they be helping fight this?”  
Demi frowned. He looked away. He couldn't look her in the eyes. “Rita...”  
“Demi, spit it out!” Rita cried, “if they've been captured we need to save them!”  
“Rita, they weren't captured,” Demi said somberly. “They were killed. Right in front of me. I'm sorry. They're gone.”  
Rita felt a knot in her stomach- a lump in her throat- her head felt like it was splitting apart, her mind couldn't process the information. How could her mother be dead? The Queen? The most powerful mage in Sapphus. Her father, a meek man who had never harmed a fly, slain in cold blood. Her uncle Vlad, a powerful warrior, the head of the Guardians... It didn't make any sense. Finally she spoke. “I need. I need... to be... alone.”  
Demi nodded. “As soon as my scouts sent word that your group had been spotted on the way to Sapphus I had tents prepared for you. I'll have someone take you to yours. It isn't far.”  
One of the other men in the tent stood and lead Rita out. No one moved to follow. They knew she needed the time to herself. Once she was gone there was a simultaneous exhale in the room. The tension loosened, but far from lifted. After a moment Fang left the tent. No one stopped her, she was clearly upset. Flynn looked to Demi. “What happened to Asha and the other children?”  
Demi shook his head. “They didn't escape the castle, but my spies claim they're still alive. I believe they are being used as servants in the castle now. It can't be a good life, knowing Rasputin.”  
“We need to save them,” Flynn said.  
“Of course you think we do,” Ifrit sighed. “Why must you be so attached to other humans?”  
“You should try living in this idiot's head,” Jill groaned, “Always going on about what a hero should do. He's so annoying.”  
Atlas took a look at Demi's workshop, no one replied to Flynn, but they all knew he was right. But they still had their mission. He felt they should help save this city, but how was this any different than freeing the slaves in Emerala? Why should they help one city and not another. “How are you still building all of this?” Atlas asked, allowing himself to fall back into the comfort of science. “You know, with your... condition.”  
Demi laughed. “Kyna has been helping me with things I can't do with just one arm. Speaking of my work, I have something to show you.” He grabbed an item off of his desk. It looked much like Atlas's pistol, but longer, like the muskets the guards in Topal used, but somehow more refined. “I made this, based on what you taught me about gunpowder and firearms. Instead of those balls it fires these.” He held up a small piece of metal, almost shaped like a fingertip, but pointed at the end. “It has a compartment inside to hold the gunpowder, that way you don't need to load it in separately. And I've worked the barrel in such a way that it should have much greater range and accuracy than any of the guns from Topal. I call it a rifle”  
Atlas looked at it, the craftsmanship was amazing. The fact that he could do this with such limited resources was mid-blowing. “Demi, this is fantastic.”  
“It's yours,” Demi smiled.  
“Are you sure?” Atlas asked.  
Demi nodded. “I can't very well fire it with one arm, and if it weren't for you I would be dead. It's the least I can do. There is a very limited number of those bullets, though. It's been hard scrounging up the gunpowder that's still left from your trip here. I'll teach you how to make them, though.”  
Atlas smiled. Then it faded as he was brought back to the reality of their situation. “Demi, we have a lot to catch up on.”

Fang walked through the hideout, looking around. There were so many people hiding out down here. Not all seemed to be fighters. Some smelled of blood, others just smelled scared. People had set up lives down here, there were rudimentary shops and homes. It wasn't a pretty sight, but it was much better than freezing outside the walls. Fang was angry. She wanted to kill them. Kill Rasputin and anyone who had ever worked with him. He had hurt Rita. Made her sad. She would tear his throat out with her teeth. She felt a tug in her chest as she thought of the slaves in Emerala that they had left behind. Would they leave this behind too? No. No, not this time. They could fix this. Rita could fix this. This was her city. She would take it back. Fang stopped at one of the makeshift shops. There were dresses hanging on the outside of the tent. It smelled familiar, like cloth and needles. There was a girl outside, sweeping. She recognized her, she smelled like the dresses, her hair was white as snow, and her eyes were pools of blue. She was pretty. Not the way Rita was pretty, created through generations of beautiful queens to make a perfect woman, but rather the kind of pretty that happened on accident in the slums. Like seeing a slave with a gorgeous face. The girl looked up and saw Fang. Her eyes lit up. She smiled. Fang froze.   
She approached Fang and looked at her. Fang looked down. “Well you're a sight for sore eyes.” The voice was the same. She was the same. The girl from the dress shop. Fang was glad she was alive.  
“Why are you... down here?” Fang asked. She had worked in a shop, had she been kicked out?  
The girl frowned. “After Rasputin came into power everything went south. The people that called themselves guards did whatever they wanted. They took anything they saw, anyone they wanted. They tried to take me... My boss tried to defend me, but she was killed by those bastards. I managed to run, and Demitri's resistance took me in. I've been helping any way I can ever since. I even opened up shop here, and I've been making dresses, clothes, even leather armor for those that are fighting.”  
Fang clenched her fists and bared her fangs. She would find those guards and make them pay. Make them bleed.   
The girl calmed herself. “You've been gone for awhile. What have you been doing? You look great. You're really filling out, you were so skinny last time I saw you. I think you'd look great in one of my dresses. You're always welcome to have one, if you'd like.”  
Fang didn't know what to say. She wasn't one for telling stories. She wasn't sure how to take the compliment either. “She's being nice to you, little one,” Gaia said, “say thank you, if nothing else.”  
Fang nodded ever so slightly. “Thank you,” she said quietly.   
“We never even exchanged names, back then,” The girl smiled. “I'm Hahna.”  
“Fang,” she muttered, “my name is Fang.”  
Hahna laughed. “I knew that already, everyone in town knew your name. You made a lot of people smile.”  
“She is a sweet girl,” Gaia observed. “You want to spend more time with her, do you not? Perhaps you should try and get to know her better?”  
She didn't have time for that. She needed to kill guards. Kill Rasputin, take back the city, make Rita smile again.   
“You cannot take this city on your own, my little warrior,” Gaia said, “This city needs the return of its princess. You must wait for your allies to form a plan before you can act. There is no harm in spending time with a girl you are interested in, is there?”  
Interested in? What did he mean by that? Fang thought she was pretty, and liked her smell, and thought her dresses were beautiful, but why did that mean she had to get to know her? What was Gaia getting at? And why did Fang find herself wanting to agree with him?  
“Do you want to maybe come in and talk, Fang?” Hahna asked. “I've got tea and some snacks, if you're hungry at all. I'd be interested if you wanted to tell me about some of your adventures.”  
Fang stared at her. She could feel Gaia silently hoping she would accept. Why was he so concerned with her social life? It seemed like a waste of time, but... He was right. There wasn't much she could do before the others made a plan. She might be able to kill every guard in the city, even kill Rasputin, but it wouldn't mean anything without the others behind her. She nodded.

Atlas, Flynn and Gale told Demitri everything. For the first time they told someone outside of their group about the demons. Atlas knew he would understand. That he would want to know the truth, and all of it. Once they were done Demi spoke. “You all have been through a lot,” he said. “But everything makes a bit more sense now. Why we can't kill Rasputin, he's like the masked men you've fought, his body is made of smoke, or darkness or whatever. But you can kill him. A demon can kill another demon, right?”  
Atlas nodded. “As far as I understand it, yes. The Sapphire's demon should be somewhere in the Northern Sea, if it follows the same trend as the last three. But maybe we should deal with Rasputin, first.”  
“The Northern Sea?” Demi asked. “Of course. That's why Rasputin has been sending out so many ships. Every few weeks he sends out a ship full of his men, all with Sapphires, and they never return. They must be after the demon.”  
Atlas sighed and rubbed his head. “That is not good. We need to make sure they don't get their hands on it.”  
“Maybe you should prioritize that first, after all, then?” Demi suggested. “We've been living under Rasputin's thumb for over a year now, we could last another few weeks while you all retrieve the demon for yourself. And that way there's one more of you that can actually fight those monsters.”  
Atlas frowned. “I don't know, I'm not comfortable deciding on anything without Rita here. This is her city. It was her family... It's not my place to decide.”  
“She'll be the one making the pact, too,” Gale added, “I'm not sure it's the best idea for her to be going up against a demon in her current state of mind.”  
“Like you're one to talk,” Atlas said, rolling his eyes. “Or have you forgotten the circumstances around acquiring your demon?”  
Gale frowned. “That was different. The Sage was passing away peacefully. He was old, it was his time. Rita's family was murdered. Her entire city was turned upside-down. My problems couldn't even compare.”  
“Well then,” Demi said, “I guess all we can do now is wait for Rita to be ready to discuss this with us.”

How long had it been? Hours? No, more like a day. The sounds had died down, the night had come and passed and Rita had not slept. She sat alone, in the dark in her tent. Crying. She didn't think she should have anything left to cry out, and yet the tears didn't stop. The more she thought of her family, her mother, her father, her uncle, the more she hurt. Her heart felt like it was being torn to pieces, her throat was raw, her face was sore from being contorted in anguish. She thought of the people of the city, the ones she should have been here to protect. She had left the city, had she been here she could have helped. She could have stopped Rasputin... couldn't she? She left her family to die, left her people to die. But she wasn't just sad, she was angry. Furious. Her fists clenched and her jaw tightened. She thought of the frozen child in the snow. She would find the man responsible for this. The man who took her city from her. She heard her tent flap move. Someone had come in, but they didn't speak. She could tell it was Fang from the slap of bare feet on the ground. She moved closer, came up behind her. Fang knelt behind her and wrapped her arms around Rita. She put her hands on hers and they sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Fang was warm. Rita hadn't realized how cold it had been. The room was frosted over, her skin was like ice, but Fang didn't even flinch when she touched her skin. Her hands were rough and calloused, but as they held on to Rita's they comforted her, warmed her. Her heart seemed to slow down, the room warmed, her tears began to wane. Fang hugged her tighter and for a moment there was nothing else in the world, only the smell of dirt and stone, leaves and blood that she knew so well as Fang's scent.   
Finally Fang spoke. She whispered in Rita's ear. “I'm going to kill them. All of them. Every person that hurt you.”  
“No,” Rita took Fang's hands in her own and finally lifted her head from her arms, “I will. They took my city... I'll take their heads.”

“Can you please stop staring at my scar?” Kyna frowned, turning to Gale.  
“Wh-what?” Gale stuttered, startled. “I wasn't-”  
“You keep looking over here!” she snapped, “I'm not an idiot, when people stare at me it's usually because they're staring at my scar!”  
Gale smiled. “Sorry if I was making you uncomfortable, there's just not much to do while we wait for Rita to com back. I wasn't staring at your scar, just at... well, you.”  
She frowned. “And why is that?”  
“I like looking at pretty girls,” Gale grinned, “it's a bad habit of mine.”  
Kyna blushed, more out of surprise than anything, it seemed.   
“Blech,” Jill mused.  
“I'm not some pretty girl!” Kyna growled. “I am a soldier and a scientist.”  
“Soldiers and scientists can be pretty, too,” Gale said, standing up from his seat to sit closer to Kyna. “Being pretty isn't something to be ashamed of.”  
“I wouldn't say I'm ashamed,” she said, “It's just not something I care about. There are other aspects of me that you could have noticed, but you're the kind of man who will always jump to appearances, aren't you?”  
“She's got you,” Jill observed.  
Gale smiled. “You got me. Where I come from... well, everyone gets along. Everyone is friends. Complimenting someone's appearance is an easy way to let them know you care. It's something most people put some effort into, so they're appreciative when you tell them they look nice. I guess it's just a habit.”  
She raised an eyebrow. “Well, I must say, I didn't expect such a well thought-out rebuttal from you. I guess there is a brain somewhere in that big head of yours.”  
Gale laughed. “Don't tell my friends, I'm supposed to be the charismatic idiot, it would ruin the group dynamic.”  
“My lips are sealed,” she chuckled.  
“So do you mind if I ask,” Gale said, almost reaching out to touch her, then remembering his time in Emerala and thinking better of it, “how did you get these scars, anyway?”  
She glared at him. Much of the left side of her face seemed burned, pieces of her nose and much of her eyebrow were missing on that side. “It's a bit of a sore subject.” She paused. “But I may consider telling you. If you tell me about your city in the sky. I'm fascinated by the idea.”  
“It's a deal,” Gale agreed.  
She took a breath. “Well, back before Rasputin came into power I was a noblewoman's daughter. When he and his monstrous allies took over the castle they killed my parents. Most of the adults were killed, they thought the kids could be convinced to join them. There were even guards who swore their allegiance to Rasputin, showed they didn't care about anything other than who sat on that throne, even if they were a usurping bastard. Some of these turncoats were rewarded for their aid with... 'personal servants'. I was given to a man as his servant. The first night he had me he told me to take off my clothes. So I spit in his face. He replied by holding my head against the heating pipes. You aren't from around here, so you might not realize, but heating pipes are very, very hot. That's where the scars came from. But I got him back. While he was distracted yelling at me I grabbed his dagger and stabbed him in the gut. Then I made my escape and found Demi. And that's how I ended up here.”  
“Stabbed him? Not just pretty and tough, but sharp, in mind and tongue,” Gale laughed, “you're everything anyone could want in a gal.”  
She stared at him. “Did you really just try to make a joke?”  
He stared at her. No one laughed. “Okay, well, let's just back up to five seconds ago, before I made a joke right after you told me you were horribly abused. I'm sorry, I have a problem.”  
“Just one?” She smiled.  
He laughed. “And here I thought you weren't capable of cracking a smile.”  
“I kept up my half of the bargain,” Kyna said, “now it's your turn, I want to know everything there is to know about this city in the sky.”  
Gale grinned. “Well, prepare yourself, because there's a lot that I know. And I'm gonna talk a lot about how adorable my sister is an the outfits our ladies wear. Especially-” Rita and Fang walked into the tent and suddenly everyone was silent. They all stared at her. She had clearly been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy, but she seemed calm now. Cold.  
“Rita, are you doing okay?” Flynn asked.  
“Well, yesterday I learned that my entire family was murdered and my city was taken over by a lunatic, so I wouldn't say okay is the right word, but I'm doing better, thank you, Flynn.” she replied.  
“I'm... really sorry about what happened,” Flynn frowned.  
She put her hand on his shoulder. “Don't apologize, it wasn't your fault. Now come on, we have to get to work.”  
Demi quickly got Rita up to speed on what he and Atlas had discussed so far, then stepped forward and gestured to the war map on the table in the center of the room. Atlas, Fang, Flynn, Gale, Kyna, even Hahna were all in the room, along with a few other soldiers. All were young, but they had seen experience already, they were ready for the fight. Eager to take their city back. To reclaim their homes. “Well, my liege, your army had been waiting. What are your orders?”  
Rita took a deep breath in and looked around at her friends and her people. They all looked to her. It was up to her to make the decisions that would lead to their victory. “First... we need to acquire the demon of the Sapphire.”  
Gale frowned. “Rita, don't you think that helping your people can come first? The demon can wait. It's been locked away for centuries, a few more days won't kill it.”  
Rita shook her head. “I've thought a lot about this. From what Demi said Rasputin regularly sends men into the Northern Sea, the longer we wait the greater chance they could get it themselves, and then we could be doomed. And more importantly, Rasputin has a body like some of the masked men we've seen, the ones that only demons can kill. We need all the power we can to take him on, we don't know just how powerful he and his men are. And if that man is going to die... It's going to be by my hand.”  
There was silence as everyone stared at her. They saw the resolve in her eyes. Demi nodded. He knelt, bowing his head. “Very well, my Queen.” The other soldiers and residents of Sapphus followed suit.   
Queen. She was Queen now. In all the time she had spent thinking, that had not crossed her mind. She looked at them all, kneeling before her, and she was humbled. She would do everything in her power to help them. To save her people. “Rise.” She said. “Thank you. All of you. I promise you all, we will reclaim our home.”  
“For Queen Riverwinter!” one of the soldiers yelled. It was echoed by the others in the tent.  
Rita approached Demi. “We'll need a boat,” Rita said.  
“You're in luck, Rasputin is due to send another group out tonight, if we play our cards right we can steal it for ourselves, stocked full with provisions for the trip.”  
“Perfect,” Rita nodded. “I'll go alone with my friends, you should stay here and manage things. I trust our mounts will be safe with you.”  
Demi nodded. “Of course.”  
Rita heard Fang fidgeting next to her. She looked to the smaller girl. “What's wrong, Fang?”  
“The Sea...” Fang grumbled, “Is the moving blue plains North of the city... right?”  
“Yeah,” Rita smiled, “It's all water.”  
Fang frowned. “No ground?”  
Rita placed an assuring hand on Fang's head. “Maybe Fang should stay with you, Demi, she could be a great asset to your team.”  
Fang looked like she wanted to dispute this, but decided not to, as the burden lifted off her shoulders. “I'd be happy to welcome her,” Demi smiled.  
“So what else do we have on our side?” Rita asked. “Once we get back. Anything more I should know about?”  
“Well,” Demi grinned,” I've been waiting for the right moment to spring it on you, but... well, you're dead, Rita.”  
She raised her eyebrows. “Excuse me?”  
“The whole city thinks you're dead. When you left the Queen kept quiet about it. Even I wasn't told, but I knew that you hadn't just been holed up in your room for a week after Atlas and the others left. Believe it or not, I managed to piece together where you had gone. When Rasputin attacked, no doubt he expected to find you in the castle. When he didn't, he told everyone, even his men, that he had killed you. He didn't want anyone holding onto the hope that you could come back. Us and Rasputin are the only ones that know you didn't die in the castle that day.”  
Rita couldn't help but laugh. “Maybe I can use that to my advantage, then.” She approached Hahna. “You're the tailor girl, right? Hahna? Fang has told me about you.”  
“Uh- Ye-Yes!” Hahna stuttered, bowing. She seemed unsure what to do with her hands. “My Queen, Um, what can I do for you?”  
Rita smiled. “Relax. I was just wondering if, while I'm gone, you could make me a dress. Something befitting royalty.”  
“I'll do my best!” Hahna exclaimed, saluting. Once Rita returned to Demi she let out a sigh. “What was that?” she said to herself, “what am I doing?”

Rita, Demi and Atlas talked of strategy for a time, but eventually Demi couldn't take the look on Rita's face anymore, and addressed the room. “Excuse me, everyone, might I have a moment alone with my cousin?” Without a word everyone left, leaving Demi and Rita alone. He took her hand and held it tightly in his own. “Rita. It's just us now. You don't need to be strong around me.”  
Rita looked him in the eyes and she began to cry again. “How are you so calm? How are you okay with everything that's happening?”  
He smiled sadly. “I'm far from okay. But... for me that all happened a year ago. When you fight every day just to stay alive you tend to let the past remain there. Of course I still think about it. I still mourn the family and friends we lost... but after a certain point, grieving doesn't help. You need to move on. Take action. But for you this is all new. I get it. If you need more time we'd all understand. It's not an easy thing to deal with- I know, I was there. And in my case... well, there were a lot of times I would go to adjust my glasses and realize there wasn't a hand on that arm to do that with anymore. It's weird how such a little thing like not being able to adjust your glasses can shake you to the core like that. Really drive home just how much you've lost.”  
Rita looked at him. Looked at the sleeve hanging limp where his arm used to be. She reached out and touched the shoulder above the missing arm. “Let me see it.”  
He frowned. “What?”  
“Your arm. Please. Let me see it.”  
“It's not a pretty sight.” He looked into her eyes. He knew that look. The same look she gave him when she would come by his workshop late at night to talk and he would tell her to go to bed. She wasn't going to budge on this. “Fine.”   
Demi rolled up his sleeve to reveal a bandaged stump. He carefully removed the bandages, still wincing slightly as he tugged them off. The skin wasn't smooth and soft like one might imagine an amputated limb to be, it was uneven, rough. Dark browns and reds mingled with the pale color of his skin. Rita touched it lightly. She ran her fingers across the jagged scarring. Like his arm had been violently torn off by a tiger. She could almost feel bone poking through the skin at the end. She took her hand away. “Demi.”  
He looked at her. “What does this accomplish, Rita?”  
“I can't see my mother's body. Or anyone's who fell that night. But I can see this. Like you said. I need to be reminded of how much I've lost. How much pain and suffering my city has seen while I was gone. Because I was gone. If I had been here-”  
“Then you would have died too!” Demi snapped. “Don't go blaming yourself for this, Rita! You leaving was the best possible scenario. If you had been here that night then you would have died, and then there would be no one left to take this city back! Don't feel responsible for what happened to this city- because this was fate. Fate that you would return and reclaim your city!”  
Rita nodded, trying to hold back her tears. “You're right Demi.” She looked into his eyes and broke out in tears again. He hugged her. “Demi, I'm so sorry! You've been through so much, all alone! I'm sorry!”  
He held her tightly. “I wasn't alone, Rita. I had everyone here. And I never once considered stopping. Never once thought I should give up. Because I knew you would return. You, Atlas, all of you. Because that's who you are. You're heroes. I always knew you would save us.” He was crying now. “Thank you. Thank you for coming back.”

That night, just as Demi predicted, a ship was being prepared to sail at the port north of the city. Demi had stayed behind, he was no fighter, he was a strategist, but he had sent Kyna and some of his best men to get them aboard. The guards were sparse, Demi's resistance didn't often target ships, there were better places to post their forces. Kyna gave a silent signal and her men and Fang rushed the guards. Before they could scream they had been taken out, Fang and the others were brutally efficient. They approached the ship. “We'll need to search for the crew,” she said quietly. “Wouldn't want a cabin boy to suddenly show up halfway through your journey.”  
Fang nodded and bounded onto the ship. She sniffed around. “No one on board. Old smells, no one here.”  
Kyna looked puzzled. “Did she-”  
“Yeah she does that,” Gale smiled. “We can trust her. It's clear.”  
Kyna nodded. “Okay then. Well, this is it then. I wish you all the best of luck. Return triumphant and shove a spear down Rasputin's throat, okay?”  
Rita put her hand on her shoulder. “He'll get worse than that, I promise you.”  
Kyna and the men knelt. “See you soon, my Queen.”  
“Thank you. All of you,” Rita said as they boarded the ship. She looked down as Fang looked up at her. She hoped Fang would be okay without them. The people seemed to like her, she was just worried she would get antsy cooped up in the sewers. Kyna cut the rope attaching the ship to the dock and they shoved off. Only now did Rita realize that none of them had sailed a boat before. Gale and Flynn hadn't even heard of a boat before now. Well, at least she and Atlas had read about it extensively. Somehow they would manage. They always did. She took a deep breath in of the cold sea air and she felt at home. A fire burned inside her. She would claim this demon and she would bring justice to Rasputin. She would reclaim her city.


	30. Ghosts Beneath the Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rita approaches the demon of the Sapphire

Chapter 30: Ghosts Beneath the Sea

The ship proved easy to pilot. It was designed to be manned by several Guardians with knowledge of the winds, but between Rita and Gale they made it a simple task. Rita remained primarily silent throughout the journey, though there was some light in her eyes again, being surrounded by water. Gale enjoyed the sea air, and Flynn was just happy to be on the boat and not in the water. He'd never seen one before, but if it meant he didn't need to try and swim then he liked it, they didn't have many large bodies of water in Ruban, he'd never learned how to swim. Atlas spent much of his time doing his best to navigate, but the vast sea proved difficult for him to map.  
After three days of peaceful sailing Gale finally voiced what everyone had been thinking. “I'm not getting what's so scary about this Northern Sea, we haven't run into any trouble at all.”  
“Why did you have to say that, Gale?” Atlas groaned. “You're going to jinx us. Things were going so well.”  
Gale laughed. “Come on, somebody had to say it, we were all so tense. Now everyone knows, when we get eaten alive it was all my fault, right?”  
Almost on cue the boat began to rock. The sea rose and a giant sea serpent showed its head directly behind Gale. “Gale, I hate you,” Atlas grumbled.  
It wasn't much bigger than the ones they had fought in the rivers and lakes around Sapphus, but they had always had Fang with them when fighting those, this could prove more difficult. The sea monster brought its mouth down on Gale, Atlas zapped it, sending it recoiling back. Gale jumped to the side and fired an arrow at it, barely piercing its scales. It roared and brought its tail up on the other end of the ship and slapped Gale to the side, slamming him into the wall of the ship. Flynn sliced at the tail, nearly slicing it off, spraying blood across the deck.  
Gale stood, rubbing his head. “Why is it going after me? What did I do to it?”  
“Can you just shut up and fight?” Atlas hissed.  
Gale grinned. He raised his bow, took aim, and fired an arrow, this time he guided it with the winds, speeding it up, and tore through its scales, right through its head. “I can talk and fight at the same time.”  
They all took a breath. Flynn cleaned his blade. Rita was busy steering the ship, keeping them from capsizing after that disturbance. “Only the first of many, I'm sure,” Ifrit said. “If I know my brother, he will have many perils in store for anyone who wishes to find him. He is...”   
“An asshole?” Jill suggested.  
“Yes. An Asshole,” Ifrit agreed.  
“Sounds like we're in for it, gang,” Gale said, relaying to the others what Jill and Ifrit had said.   
“Let's just get it over with,” Flynn said, uncharacteristically grumpy. “I really do not like being in the sea. I feel sick.”  
“If any more sea monsters show up I'm sure Atlas can just call in a big bolt of lighting to fry them all, right? Water and electricity and all that?” Gale suggested.  
Atlas frowned. “In case you haven't noticed, my magic isn't all that strong. I might be precise and skilled, but I can't exactly 'call in a big bolt of lightning' I can zap, that's about the extent of it.”  
Before Gale could reply the boat shook again. This time three heads rose. “Oh great. More,” Gale sighed. “You may want to try the lighting thing, just to be sure. You might be shocked at what you can accomplish.”  
Atlas simply rolled his eyes. One of the serpents rose directly in front of the ship, threatening to crash into them. Rita glared at it. The water around all three serpents began to rise. They were lifted into the air, held in bubbles of seawater. Once they were high above them the bubbles burst, and the water turned to countless spears of ice. The ice drove itself into them, showering the sea in blood. The corpses fell behind them, Rita hadn't even bothered slowing the ship or looking back as she had slain them.  
“Griffin's tail feathers!” Gale exclaimed. “Rita, that was awesome! How did you do that!?”  
Rita didn't take her eyes off the sea. “It was in the way.”

Fang stalked silently through the city. The moon was high and bright in the sky, and the light shimmered beautifully off the street. She jumped from rooftop to rooftop, looking down at the city. Many buildings were falling apart, some completely destroyed. Hahna had told her of the earthquake a few months ago, and how Rasputin had done nothing to repair the damage, leaving the city to rot.  
She heard the voices of men and moved towards them to get a view. They were Guards. Rasputin's men, making their rounds of the city. “Have you heard about the tiger that's on the loose?” she heard one of them say to the other two.  
“What are you talking about?” one of the others asked.  
“Yeah, I hear it's been tearing people up in the streets,” the third confirmed.  
“But none of the tigers are missing from their cages,” the second man said.  
“Well how else do you explain guards turning up dead, torn to pieces and half eaten?” The first insisted.  
“Maybe it wandered in from the forest?” the third suggested.  
“Through the wall?” The second frowned. “I seriously doubt that.”  
She was done listening to them talk. She jumped and landed on the first man, knocking him over and slamming his head into the ground. The other two looked at her, but before they could draw a weapon she tackled the second man into the third, slamming them both into the wall behind them. She dug her teeth into the guard's throat, tearing out much of his neck. Her claws buried themselves in his gut and she tore it open, spraying blood and his insides across the ground. He was still clinging to life as he watched her tear out his intestines and shove his body aside. The third man had drawn his sword by now, but when he tried to swing it she grabbed his arm and slammed him into the ground. She lifted him by his now shattered arm and wrapped the intestines she was still holding around his neck, pulling them tight. He tried to claw them away with his good arm, but she used her free hand to pull it away. She pulled farther and farther behind his back until it snapped, the last of his breath escaped in an attempt to scream. He fell limp, she grabbed his skull, and in one swift motion tore his head off. The first man she had landed on was staring at her, wide-eyed.  
He stood and tried to run, but she pounced on him. She turned him onto his back so she could see the fear in his eyes. “Who are you!?” He screamed in terror. She didn't reply. She slammed the severed head into his skull over and over again. First he was begging her to stop, eventually the words became gurgles, then just noises, then he was silent. Still she slammed the heads together, bits of brain and bone splattering everywhere. Finally she stopped. She was breathing heavily. There was nothing in her hand, both heads were little more than a smear on the ground now. She took a deep breath in, the smell of blood filled her nose. She licked the blood off her hands. She smiled. She couldn't take the city without Rita, but she wasn't going to sit idly and do nothing.

It was cold. Without magic they would have all likely frozen to death days ago. They spent as much time as they could below deck to try and stay out of the cold. There were huge chunks of ice in the water, they had begun to see the remains of ships, loose planks and splinters, the ships that Rasputin had sent, no doubt, it was like an icy graveyard. The sea monsters had gotten bigger and more vicious. Rita wasted no time killing them, but she was getting tired. She knew they were close, she could feel the Sapphire pulling her. It was so cold on her neck, it made the air seem warm in comparison.   
“There's not really much to look at out here,” Gale said, rubbing his hands together, “but at least we all have time to chill, right?”   
He joked but Rita could tell even he was beginning to waver, between his magic and breathing techniques he was comfortable in almost any weather, but even he was feeling the effects of the cold. Poor Flynn was the worst off, he wasn't one for cold or water and he was surrounded by both. Rita was cold, sure, but she had a job to do. She needed to keep them safe. She had used a lot of magic on this venture, but she ignored the exhaustion and pushed herself further.   
She felt the water churning. Another sea serpent? No. Several sea serpents? Something felt wrong about them. They were all... connected. It rose out of the water. This was no serpent. It was large enough to be one, maybe even larger, but there was no head. It was a tentacle. More of them rose from the water, all around the ship.  
“What am I looking at right now?” Atlas asked, staring at the massive tentacles surrounding them.   
“I've read books about this,” Rita said, “The Kraken.”  
“Do the books say it's actually just a really nice guy who wants eight high fives?” Gale asked hopefully.  
One of the appendages curled around the ship, the wood began to crack, threatening to shatter. Flynn ran his sword through it, calling flames to scorch the wound. It recoiled. “I guess that's a no,” Flynn sighed.  
“The monsters never want to be out friends,” Gale joked, drawing his bow.   
“We can't let it get a grasp on the ship,” Rita cautioned, “If even one tentacle grabs us we're done for.” It might be bigger than what they fought before, but it was still in the water, she could destroy it just like all the others. First things first she needed to pull it away from the ship. She called on the water to move. Nothing happened. She tried again. A wave, but little more. There was nothing left. She had exhausted herself too far. As another tentacle fell she managed a spear of ice to fend it off, but the attack simply grazed it. Suddenly it all hit her at once. She was so tired. So weak. Now was not the time. She needed to fight, why now? Why couldn't she make it just one more battle?  
Gale caught her as she started to waver, threatening to fall over. Atlas zapped another tentacle behind them. “You alright, Rita? You look even paler than usual.”  
“My... magic...” Rita mumbled. “Running... out.”  
Gale smiled at her. “Maybe rest for a minute, we've got this.” He laid her down and fired an arrow at the arm of the beast.   
She hated to admit it, but he was right. She wouldn't be any help in her current state. If they could just hold it off for a few minutes maybe she could build up enough strength.  
“I need more power!” Flynn pleaded to Ifrit as his sword failed to slice through a tentacle, merely cutting the skin.  
“You are weak from the journey, boy,” Ifrit replied, “I cannot give power to a body that could not handle it. As amusing as it would be to watch you die trying to use a power beyond your ability, I do not wish to be stranded at sea. Especially not... his sea.”  
Flynn tried to augment himself with magic like the old guardian had taught him, but Ifrit was right, he was too weak from the journey, the cold had gotten to him, his fire was weak.  
“Any brilliant plans, Atlas?” Gale asked as he fired a few more arrows. “Rita's out of commission, Flynn's on his last legs, might be up to you and me to take this thing down.”  
“You're probably going to die,” Jill teased.  
Atlas looked around desperately. What could he use? He didn't have enough bombs to destroy the tentacles, and Flynn didn't have the energy to make an explosion. He looked at the dark clouds above them. They had been fortunate enough to avoid storms so far while at sea, but the clouds had rolled in today, though there had yet to be rain. “Rita, are you feeling up to doing anything yet?” He asked.  
“I can... manage,” Rita choked out, trying to stand.  
“I don't need much,” Atlas smiled, “I just need you and Gale to make me a storm.”  
Gale stared at him. “Atlas, we are on a boat. I know it's cold and we've been at sea awhile, so your planning brain might be a little tired, but boats sink in a storm.”  
“Boats sink to a Kraken, too!” Atlas snapped. “Like I said before, I can't just call down lighting from the sky, but if we give the right circumstances...”  
Gale grinned. “You crazy bastard.”  
“Meanwhile, Flynn, it'll be up to you to make sure this thing doesn't sink us,” Atlas said.  
Flynn nodded weakly. “No problem.”  
The winds began to pick up. The air began to warm, Rita, Flynn and Gale were doing everything in their power to heat the area, they needed rain, not snow. The rain began to fall from the clouds. Flynn slashed at the tentacles as they crashed down on their boat. Atlas reached out to the clouds. He could feel the static in the air. He could feel the energy. All he had to do was guide it. He waited for the right moment, he could feel the pressure building, wanting to break free. Not yet. Not yet. The air was humid now, muggy, warm. The Kraken raised a tentacle high- Now! In a flash a massive bolt of lightning fell from the sky, striking the tentacle. It was only a fraction of a second, but Atlas was ready, he could see the massive body of the beast outlined in electricity in his mind's eye. The energy wanted to escape into the water, but Atlas wouldn't let that happen, he kept it all in the Kraken, overloading its nerves with a constant flow of electricity. The tentacles spasmed wildly, flailing in the water. After a few moments it finally stopped. The tentacles floated harmlessly in the water. They released their magic and the air quickly chilled again, the rain stopped and the winds calmed.   
Rita stood and approached the edge of the ship, looking into the water. “We're here,” she said, “The demon is below us. I can feel it.”  
“Rita...” Atlas trailed off, falling on the deck. He had used too much energy, he was weak, tired.  
Gale sat him up, Flynn was heaving, barely able to stand. “Rita, I think you need to rest. We all do.”  
“I need... My people need me, Gale,” She said weakly.  
“If you approach the demon in your current state you'll just get yourself killed,” Gale insisted. “Go sleep for awhile, you can save the city after you've taken a nap.”  
Rita wanted to argue, but she realized that she was too tired. If she couldn't even argue how could she brave the sea and subdue a demon? Gale was right. She needed rest. “Fine,” she muttered.

Rita slept for what seemed like days. She was surprised at how easily and deeply she slept. With everything going on in her life she had expected to be unable to sleep, but she supposed that despite the stress, she had barely slept in the last two weeks, and used enough magic to drive her to exhaustion, her body was demanding rest at this point. When she woke she was alone in the cabin beneath the ship. It wasn't a terribly large ship, so they had shared the rooms. She felt better now. She was rested, her head was clear. Some of the fog of rage and despair had lifted. She needed to be calm approaching this demon. She didn't know what emotion it would prey on. Ifrit was hate, Jill was envy, Gaia was regret... what could this one be? Anger? Sadness? She couldn't take any chances, she needed a completely empty mind. She splashed her face with water from a basin. It was frigid, but she didn't mind, she liked the cold. She looked at her reflection in the pool of water. She didn't look like much of a queen. Her eyes were worn and tired, her hair was unwashed and loose. She pulled some of the water from the basin- her magic was working again, that was good- she ran the water through her hair, trying to pull away as much grease and dirt as she could. It wasn't perfect, but before she could get back to a place with soap it was the best she could do.

“Well look who finally came out of hibernation,” Gale greeted her once she joined the others on the deck. Atlas and Flynn were looking better than they had last time she had seen them, they were both standing, though Flynn seemed just as seasick as he had the whole journey.  
“How long was I out?” Rita asked.  
“Just over a day, it seems,” Atlas replied.  
Good, not as long as she had thought. She looked at all of them. “Thank you. All of you, for coming with me. For helping me do this. I really appreciate it. I know I've been... difficult lately.”  
Atlas smiled at her. “Well we all expect the Snow Queen to be cold to us, right?”  
“Atlas, you totally stole my pun!” Gale snapped.  
“Please,” Atlas laughed, “I've been giving Rita a hard time since before we even met you.”  
Rita couldn't help but let out a chuckle. “She laughed!” Gale exclaimed, “oh how I've missed that smile!”  
“How are you feeling, Flynn?” She asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.  
“Cold, sick,” Flynn grumbled. He took a deep breath. “But I'm fine. Don't worry about me.”  
Rita smiled and nodded. He knew there were things that needed to be done. They knew when they set out that they wouldn't be comfortable out here. She looked at the sea again. It was calm. Almost inviting. “I guess it's time,” she said.  
“You sure?” Gale frowned.  
“How exactly do you even plan on going... down?” Atlas questioned.  
“I'll figure something out,” Rita shrugged. She held out her arms and water rose, encasing air in several large bubbles. She looked back at them. “Thanks again.” She jumped.   
She landed in the largest bubble and dove into the sea. She suspended herself, heating the water touching her enough that it wouldn't freeze her to death. The bubble allowed her to breathe, and she lowered the other bubbles with her for air reserves, but her air was still limited, so she measured her breathing, taking care not to waste more air than she needed to. As she descended it quickly became too dark to see, she had to feel the water around her to get an idea of where to go. Her Sapphire was pulling her down, and she trusted it would bring her to the demon. The water pressure was increasing. She had expected that. The further she went the more energy it would take for her to keep the water from crushing her. She could feel the sea life swimming around her. Fish, squid, sharks, some creatures she couldn't recognize, others too big for her to fully grasp. No matter how far she dove the sea never seemed to end. This was largely unexplored territory, no one came out this far, save the men Rasputin had sent to their deaths, and who knew if anyone had ever dived so deep? What lay at the bottom of the sea? It seemed like an eternity she was falling in the dark, being unable to see, hear or really smell anything was threatening to drive her mad, her magic the only way she could prove she was even alive. Eventually she began to run out of air. She was on her last bubble, her breathing was labored, and her breaths were few and far between. Would she die down here? Drown in the dark among sea monsters she couldn't even see? The sea life was scarce this deep, but each creature was bigger than the last, some swam within feet of her, threatening to crush her with a swing of their massive tail fins.  
Her mind began to wander, racing through thoughts, fears, would she really die here? Would she go mad? Had she already gone mad? Was this all in her head? Was she already dead? Had she died that night Rasputin attacked the castle? Had the last year of her life been fake? Then she felt it. It felt like a huge bubble deeper below her. She snapped back into reality. She calmed herself. A clear head, she needed a clear head. She knew who she was and she knew what she needed to do. As she approached the bubble she began to see a dim blue light. Her Sapphire was nearly screaming on her neck, colder than ice and buzzing with power. The light grew brighter and brighter, once she was close enough she could see what it was. There was what appeared to be a building down here. A square, flat building adorned with pillars, large torches of blue flame burned in the courtyard, and the entire complex was encased in a bubble of air. She positioned herself before the courtyard and stepped in. The air was cold and wet. There was a pathway built of cracked marble leading to the building, the blue torches lit the pathway.   
To Rita's surprise there seemed to be people here. Human forms walked absently through the courtyard. At first they seemed to take no notice of her. She walked down the pathways slowly, carefully. She approached one of the wandering men. “Excuse me... sir?”  
The man turned around, revealing a face that seemed to be falling apart. His skin was grey and his lips were blue, his flesh threatening to fall from his bones. He wore a Sapphire necklace, and his eyes were white. He stared at her Sapphire, then let out a horrifying screech. He grabbed at her necklace, but she pulled away, instead he grabbed a piece of her sleeve and tore her coat. He clutched the scrap of fabric in his fist and screeched again. Now every one of the supposed humans turned to her. No, they weren't humans. Had the demon's trials already begun? Was this his first trick? Very well then, she had to approach this calmly. They were rushing at her with bloodlust in their eyes, they wanted to kill her. These were monsters, like anything else she had killed. Luckily they were surrounded by water. She surrounded herself with a spiked shield of ice, keeping them at bay while she got her bearings. Many simply impaled themselves on the spikes, but a few began to break through the ice. She reformed the ice into a lance for herself and several floating blades to defend her blind spots. As she cut through them she noticed that every one wore a Sapphire somewhere on their body. As she stabbed a woman in the neck her eyes widened as she saw her mother's crown on her head. As the head fell from the corpse for a moment Rita saw her mother in this monster, she felt like retching, but she refused to let herself lose her composure. Her mother was dead and gone. This was a phantom, an illusion, nothing she fought here was real. She began to recognize more Sapphires, the necklaces her father and uncle had worn, as well as those belonging to assorted nobles. Had the demon pulled these from her memories? She hadn't even realized she remembered some of them.  
Once she had dispatched the last of them she made her way to the building. There was no door, simply an archway. It lead to a large room, dimly lit by blue flames. Her parents stood before her. Her mother spoke. “You left us to die, Rita.” She didn't reply. This was an illusion. “How could you leave us? If you had been there you could have saved us.” That wasn't true. If she had been there she just would have died too. The shadows around them began to encroach, reaching up in tendrils. The tentacles wrapped around their necks, lifting them into the air. “Please, Rita, save us!” No, that's what the demon wanted, she wasn't going to play his game. More tendrils appeared, they began to stab them repeatedly. Her parents pleaded for her to save them, crying as their blood erupted form their bodies, their guts falling from their bodies as they were torn to pieces by the darkness. She watched in silence. None of this was real. She wouldn't let it affect her. Finally their bodies fell to the ground, a dark mist covering them. Demitri rose from the darkness, young, like he was before she had left. His arm was a bloody stump.  
“You did this to me!” He screamed, blood trickling from his lips. “You took everything from me!” The darkness began to form around his arm, creating a disgusting lump of flesh and shadows, covered in gnashing mouths. He ran at her, leading with his monstrous arm, but it stopped just before her face. He couldn't touch her if she didn't let him. If she didn't buy into the illusion it couldn't effect her.   
“You're a phantom,” she said calmly, “you don't deserve to wear that face.”  
Demi grinned, lowering his arm. “Well at least I got you to talk.” He backed up a few steps, his arm fell back to darkness and he took the form of the older Demi of the present. Chains appeared behind him, hanging from the ceiling, each one holding one of her friends by their wrists. “Now what will it take to break you, ice queen?” A sickle appeared in his hands, his eyes grew wild and a wicked smirk grew on his lips. He began to hack at Flynn, laughing as he did. He sliced open his gut, then began to cut his arms and legs. Eventually he cut a leg off. She could hear the phantom of Flynn screaming, but she knew it wasn't really him. This was nothing more than a show. She wasn't going to budge.  
“Still nothing?” The false Demi sighed, Flynn's blood on his face and clothes. “On to the next, I suppose. The sickle was replaced with a hammer. He slammed the warhammer into Atlas's knee, shattering his kneecap. He howled in pain. Then he broke his ribs. His arm. Once he ran out of appendages he started to beat on his face, knocking out teeth, eventually his jaw was knocked loose and fell off entirely.  
“You're a tough one,” Demi observed, breathing heavily and dropping the hammer. “But I've still got two more.” He looked at Gale. A sword appeared in his hand now. “Honestly, I'm getting a little annoyed.” In a sudden fit of rage he began hacking Gale apart, resulting in his skull being sliced in half and one of his arms being cut clean off at the shoulder.  
The Demi clone looked at his work. “Kinda wasted that one.” He looked at Fang now. “So I really need to make this one count.” He tore the last chain down. Fang fell to her knees, a defeated look in her eyes. He wrapped the chain around her neck and pulled her violently towards Rita. “This one was special to you, right? Your favorite little friend? Your favorite little slave.” He placed his boot on her back and pushed her head into the ground. “Down in the dirt where it belongs.” He held his foot above her head. “Lick my boot, slave.” She looked at him with dead eyes and began to lick the bottom of his boot. For a moment Rita felt a flash of rage, but she held herself together. She couldn't let him get to her. She was winning, he was getting frustrated. He kicked Fang in the side, knocking her onto her back. He kicked her over and over in the side, then began to stomp on her face, lifting her head up with the chain only to stomp it back into the ground, over and over again. Once he stopped he looked at her bloody, beaten face. She was till breathing. He stood over her. He pulled down his trousers and began to urinate on her. “Not only is a slave below my boot, but below my piss!” he laughed. He turned her over again. A whip appeared in his hand. He tore off her shirt, revealing the scars across her back. “But what kind of master would I be if I didn't whip my little slave a few hundred times, right?”  
He lifted his arm and Rita finally spoke up. “Stop this now!” She commanded.  
His smile widened. He dropped Fang and let go of the whip. “The Queen issues her commands, who am I to refuse!” The room had changed. Fang and the others were gone, they were back in the throne room of Sapphus. She sat on the throne, dressed in a Queen's garb. Besides the two of them the room was empty. “And yet you are a Queen who has lost her city! And what is a Queen without a place to rule, I ask you? Nothing! Nothing but a silly girl in a shiny hat!”  
She stood and suddenly the room changed again, they were now in the slums of Sapphus, surrounded by snow and the people, freezing and starving. She was naked, save for the crown on her head. The people looked at her. “All hail the queen of nothing!” One of them screamed.  
“The Queen of a dead city!” Another howled.  
“A Queen of ice and snow and corpses!”  
Rita took a deep breath. When would he give up. “I'm tired of your games,” she said calmly. “Your illusions aren't going to break me.”  
They were back in the original room, her clothes were back to normal. “My illusions?” He asked. “But my dear Queen, not everything you've seen has been an illusion. The people outside? Well, you were far from the first to make it here. In fact, Rasputin has sent me so many new playthings recently. The ones out there? Those are the ones that broke. Those were no illusions, my dear, those were people. Your people, and you slaughtered them!” He laughed a sickening laugh that made Rita want to punch him in the face.  
She wasn't terribly surprised. She had considered the possibility, but whatever he had done to those people, they weren't people anymore. He had killed them long before she had. “Show yourself, demon,” she said, “I think I've played enough of your game.”  
“As my queen commands,” he said, bowing. When he rose he had taken a new form. This, Rita believed, was his true form. Or at least the one he wished to show her. He was tall and thin, with skin as pale as a frozen corpse, and blue lips to match. His short hair was the color of ice and was wild as the sea in a storm. His left eye was fierce and blue, with a sinister look in it, while his right eye was absent, replaced instead by a horn of ice that extended through his head and out the back. His mouth was wide and his teeth were sharp like a shark's. “Well here I am, the demon of the Sapphire. A demon of insanity. You may call me Lunatic. So to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from such an esteemed monarch?”  
“I need your power,” Rita said, not mincing words.  
“And why in the world should I give you my power?” He asked, falling back and landing in a throne of ice. “What do you wish to do with it? Save the world? Rescue your people? Some other boring hero thing? Because I don't really like heroes very much.” He swung his legs upward, resting them on the back of the throne, allowing his head to fall over the seat's edge so he was looking at her upside-down.  
“I want to kill Rasputin and everyone he's worked with,” Rita replied without a second thought.  
He looked at her a moment, then he smiled. “I like that, I like that a lot.” He righted himself with one swift motion and leaned towards her. “You are fascinating, princess. When most people say they want to commit mass murder they've gone completely bonkers, but you... somehow you're still in your right mind. How can a person be so calm and calculated...” He laughed his disgusting laugh again. “And how can I drive someone like you to insanity!? Oh this will be fun!”  
“So you'll join me then?” Rita asked.  
“Of course,” He said, holding out his hand, “and one day I'll kill all of your friends while I'm grinning with those pretty little lips of yours.”  
“You'll have to kill me first,” she took his hand.  
He licked his lips. “Maybe I will.”  
His body began to glow and he surged into her Sapphire, the pain she felt was immeasurable, as if her entire body were composed of shattering ice, cold and sharp, it felt as though he was making it as painful as possible on purpose. Once it subsided he spoke. “Roomy in here, but will I still get the Sunday paper? Because I cannot make it through a weekend without the funnies.”  
She didn't like him being in her head. She left the building. She looked at the corpses outside. They had all been people once. She approached the woman who had worn her mother's crown. She picked it up.  
“Sentimental, are we?” Lunatic joked, “Why don't we take it with us?”  
The Sapphires in the crown began to glow, then all of the Sapphires around her. Suddenly the countless Sapphires in the courtyard began to surge into her necklace, she could feel the power of hundreds of years of experience flowing into her. She had never felt so powerful, even without the demon's power she felt like she was bursting with energy.  
“So now that we're done here,” The bubble surrounding them broke, the water began to surge in, tearing apart the complex, “Might as well get rid of the whole damn place, right!?”  
He was insane. She stopped the water with barely a thought. An entire sea stopped with her mind. She took a deep breath and let it wash gently over her. Once she was submerged she shot herself upward. Faster. Faster. Faster. How fast could she go? It was effortless, she couldn't even feel the cold of the freezing sea. While the journey down had seemed to take a lifetime, the return took mere moments. She erupted from the sea in a geyser and looked down at her friends on the boat. They were looking up at her with wide eyes and open mouths. She descended on the water and landed on the deck of the boat.  
“Do you have any idea how cool that looked!?” Gale exclaimed excitedly.  
“I... hadn't thought about it?” Rita said, confused.  
“Really cool,” Flynn agreed.  
“Did you...” Atlas trailed off.  
Rita nodded. “I got him. He's...”  
“Ifrit, Jill, long time no see, ladies,” Lunatic said.  
“Oh joy, how I have missed you, brother,” Ifrit sighed.  
“Did we really have to bring him along?” Jill groaned.  
Atlas looked at the other three. He recognized the vacant look on their faces. “I'm starting to feel pretty left out here, guys.”  
Rita shook her head. “Sorry, Atlas.” She looked out at the sea. Suddenly it wasn't so imposing. It was a threat no longer, now it was an ally. “Let's take back my city.”


	31. The Ice Queen Cometh

Chapter 31: The Ice Queen Cometh

Kyna and Fang sat in silence on the shore. They had been coming here every night for the past week, waiting for Rita and the others to return. Fang had been reluctant to give up her nights doing whatever it was she had been doing the past month, but they needed Gaia there to sense when the others were getting close. They couldn't very well come ashore at the docks. Kyna quietly sharpened her dagger as Fang stared at the sand. They didn't talk much, neither was one for conversation. Every night they came out here and every night there was nothing. Kyna was beginning to worry that they had failed. What would become of this city if the Queen had fallen to the perils of the sea?  
Fang looked up and out towards the water. She finally spoke the words Kyna had been waiting so long to hear. “They're here.”  
Kyna smiled and sheathed her dagger. “Have your... friend tell them where we are.”

Kyna could feel the Queen's power before she even saw her. Her magical energy was immense, commanding. She could feel her body threatening to kneel before the monarch before she had even consented. “My Queen, I'm glad you've made it back safely,” she said, giving in and kneeling.  
Rita smiled and nodded to her, the others just behind her leaving the ship. “I appreciate your help, Kyna.” Fang approached Rita, staring at her like a friend she had thought dead. Rita placed her hand on Fang's head and brushed her hair out of her face. “I'm happy to see you doing so well.” She hugged her. Fang blushed.  
“So,” Atlas sighed, “should we get back to Demi? Because I am ready to be anywhere but the water right now. Even a sewer will suffice.”  
“I agree,” Rita laughed, “I need a bath, too.”  
Flynn groaned, seemingly just happy to be on land again.  
“Much like the sea itself our trip had its ups and downs,” Gale said, “but I thought it went swimmingly. Though Flynn did seem to crash in its wake.”  
Kyna stared at him. “Are you proud of yourself?”  
“I like her,” Atlas smiled weakly.

“Rita, you're back!” Demi exclaimed, hugging her as soon as she walked into his tent. She could see a bit of the old Demi she used to know in his smile.  
“He's a lot less impressive in reality than he was in your head,” Lunatic observed. “I wonder if his blood is the shade I've imagined.” Rita ignored him. She was glad to see her cousin again.  
“I'm happy to see you too, Demi,” Rita smiled.  
“Atlas, you look in high spirits,” Demi joked, putting his arm around his shoulder.  
“You'd look like this too if you had to spend a month stuck on a boat with Gale's bad puns,” Atlas chuckled.  
“My puns are quality comedy,” Gale smirked.   
“So Gale's awful sense of humor aside,” Rita said, “what's our plan of attack now that we're back?”  
“Well,” Demi said, moving to his map of the city, “my workshop had a secret tunnel to the sewers, but like I told you before it collapsed when I escaped. With Fang here, however, she should be able to clear the rubble and we can get into the castle undetected and catch them by surprise. As far as my sources tell me my workshop is an unused room right now, so we shouldn't have to worry about running into any guards in there.”  
Rita nodded. “Sounds like a plan. While you all sneak in I can attack from the front gates. I'll distract them and you can focus on freeing hostages.”  
Demi looked quizzically at her. “You should sneak in with us. There's no reason to put yourself in danger like that. At the very least bring a team with you. Going in by yourself is suicidal.”  
Rita shook her head. “No. Enough of my people have died already. This time I will do everything in my power to keep everyone safe. Fortunately... I now have a great deal more power than I used to.”  
Demi wanted to argue, but he saw the look in her eye. He wasn't going to convince her. She was stubborn, but she was also brilliant and strong. If she said she could do it he believed her. He didn't like it but he had to go with her plan regardless. “Alright. Fine, we'll do it your way,” Demi sighed.  
“Good,” Rita smiled. “Then, if that's settled, I'm going to take a bath, and after that I'd like to talk to the tailor, Hahna, hopefully she's had time to finish my dress.”  
“You're insane,” Lunatic mocked.  
“You know very well that I'm not.” 

“It's gorgeous,” Rita said, running her hand across the silky green-blue fabric of the dress. The color of sea foam trimmed with snow and ice, it reminded her of the dresses her mother used to wear. “Where did you even get this fabric?”  
“I had some left that we'd scrounged up from the old shop,” Hahna said, “I was saving it for a special occasion. And, well, not much is more special than making a dress for a Queen, right?”  
“I'm honored,” Rita smiled. “I really appreciate this, thank you.”  
“Don't thank me!” Hahna sputtered. “You're the Queen! I'm honored that you'd even look at me, let alone be asked to make your dress!”  
“I hear you've been talking to Fang,” Rita said. “I appreciate someone talking to her besides me. She can be... difficult to communicate with.”  
Hahna blushed. “Thank you, your majesty!”  
“Rita is fine.”  
“R-Rita. Um, I just... Back when... when they all came to Sapphus a year ago, Fang used to look at the dresses in the shop, but she never came in. Everyone in town talked about how nice she was, so I just tried talking to her. And then I saw her again and... well, sometimes you don't always have someone to talk to when the world's gone upside-down like this. I'm sorry, I'm rambling, I really doubt you care.”  
Rita smiled. “Of course I care. There's not a single thing that a person of Sapphus could tell me that I wouldn't care about. And you'd be surprised at how important you are to Fang. It's not often she talks to people.”  
Hahna smiled meekly. “I'm... glad.”  
Rita took a deep breath. “Well, enough putting it off. I need some sleep. I'll be back tomorrow for the dress, and then...” she trailed off. “Good night, Hahna.”  
“Good night.”

Harren rubbed his hands together. Even in his gloves he felt like his fingers would freeze off. “Why are we stuck out here, anyway? Does Rasputin hate us that much?” he asked Jeri.   
“Everyone has to guard the gates at some point,” Jeri replied.  
“But on a night like tonight?” Harren complained. “It's freezing out! And what if that tiger everyone's been talking about gets us! It's been killing guards, you know, I think we messed up keeping them chained, they put a target on our backs.”  
“There is no tiger,” Jeri said, rolling his eyes, “it's just a story.” He looked up at the snow coming down on them. “It is cold though. And the snow is really starting to come down.”  
“Looks like a blizzard,” Harren agreed. “You think the boss would let us in for that? It'd be cruel and unusual punishment to keep us out here in a blizzard.”  
“Like Rasputin is against cruel and unusual...” Jeri muttered.  
“What was that?” Harren asked.  
“Nothing,” Jeri said quickly. He looked up again. “Something has been bugging me, though.”  
“What?”  
“Doesn't the Sapphire keep the snow out? It doesn't usually snow this close to the castle.”  
Harren stared at him for a moment. “I'm sure it's nothing. Maybe the Saapphire's just taking a day off or something.”  
“The Sapphire doesn't take days off, Harren,” Jeri insisted.  
“Look, man, I don't know,” Harren sighed. “Queen's tits, the snow is really getting ridiculous. We need to get inside. We'll die in this.”  
Jeri squinted into the storm. “You see that?”  
“See what? What are you looking at? It's not a tiger is it? Fuck, I bet it's a tiger! Come on, let's get inside already!”  
Jeri shook his head. “That's no tiger.”  
Finally Harren looked. His breath caught in his throat. Was he frozen in fear or had the cold finally gotten to him? He wished he was seeing a tiger. Instead he saw the visage of a woman wearing a long, flowing dress walking towards them. “No...” He whispered. No, it was just an old story. The vengeful spirits didn't really exist!  
As she got closer he could make out her face. Skin pale as snow, hair blue as ice, deep purple eyes. A Riverwinter. The Queen? No, too young. The Princess? But they were dead! Of course they were! Or course she was! You had to die to be a spirit! She was angry! Rasputin had killed her and she was finally coming for his head! She was so close to them now they could smell her, but they couldn't seem to move. She looked at them with cold, dead eyes.  
Jeri spoke. Sapphire, save him, Harren wished he didn't speak, but he did. “Who are you?”  
“You know who I am,” she said coldly. “I am the battle cry of a dying city. The blade of a people who cannot lift a sword themselves. I am the spirit of every Queen who has ever fallen, and I have come to free my city.” There were no emotions behind her words, only facts.  
She lifted her hands and touched their necks. She was so cold that suddenly the storm seemed warm. Harren could feel his neck tightening, his breath freezing in his throat. The cold began to move, his body felt like ice. “You two, at least, will be allowed a quick death.” Harren had heard that you feel almost warm before freezing to death, whether or not that was true for a natural death he didn't know, but a spirit's cold... there was no warmth to be had, only fear, pain and an unimaginable cold that never ceased.

Asha tried to calm the other kids as they cowered in their room. Rasputin and his men had kept most of the children that had been in the castle alive and used them as servants. They were all forced to live in a single room, far too small to fit them all comfortably. The room seemed empty today, though, many of the kids had been out working when this started, she was worried for them. Dianne was with her, at the very least. As well as the younger kids who were too small to work yet. Asha had shown some promise with magic, so Rasputin had made her a medic. She hated healing guards who she knew were committing atrocities out there, but she was learning useful skills, and she was good at it.   
“It's okay, it's okay. Everything is going to be fine,” She whispered, running her hand through Harry's hair. He was still very young and he was crying. She had no idea if she was telling the truth or not, but she had to tell the kids that. This reminded her of the day Rasputin came into power, guards running around, yelling orders with little idea what was really happening. Screams heard in the distance. First they had said there was a ghost outside, then there were rebels inside. Guards yelled about kids shooting fire and lightning, and Asha could only hope that meant these rebels were who she thought they were. Had Flynn come back? It had to be him, who else could it be? He was a hero, she knew he would save them. He had to. He'd saved them before from the witch, he was their only hope now.  
“Asha, are we gonna... die?” Dianne whispered to her.  
“Of course not, sweetie,” Asha smiled, “We'll all be fine. The heroes are on their way.  
Sarah smiled at her, revealing the gap in her teeth where her baby tooth had fallen out. “You mean like Flynn?”  
Asha nodded. “Just like Flynn.”  
A guard entered the room. Asha recognized him. She didn't like him very much, the way he looked at her was... unnerving. He was always making comments about how she was growing up every day. He looked at them. He seemed worried. “Not all of them,” he muttered to himself. “It's fine, we'll find the others.”  
“What do you want?” Asha asked.  
He looked at her. “Nothing. Be quiet.”  
“Don't tell us what to do!” Tina yelled, “Flynn's gonna save us! He's gonna beat you up!”  
He glared at the child. He stepped forward. “Oh, yeah? You think so, you little brat? He better be quick, then, because in a minute or so you'll all be dead!”  
“What?” Asha exclaimed.  
He grinned. “Oh, yeah, sweetheart. Real shame, too, you're growing up real pretty. Another year or two...” he laughed to himself. “Anyway, with all this going on the big man wants you all put down. Says you're liabilities. Not my place to argue, so here I am.” He drew his sword. “Now then, let's get this over with.”  
“Stop!” Asha demanded, standing in front of the other kids. “Don't you dare hurt them!” She tried to sound commanding but her voice was trembling.  
“What exactly do you expect to do about it?” He chuckled.  
“Flynn will save us,” she heard one of the cowering kids behind her say.   
She took a shallow, shaking breath in. She couldn't rely on Flynn for all of her problems. “Kill me, but please, let them live.”  
“I got my orders, darling.”  
“Do anything you want to me, but leave the kids alone!” She insisted.  
“Anything? Well aren't you a brave girl.” He got closer to her. She could smell his breath, it made her want to vomit, but she held her ground.   
He reached out towards her, she closed her eyes. She felt his hand on her shoulder. Flynn will save us. His grip tightened, tugging on her clothes. Flynn will save us. She felt herself thrown to the ground. Then nothing. No, no, no! She opened her eyes, she saw him bring his sword down towards Dianne. Asha reached out and grabbed his arm. She screamed something, but she couldn't recall what. In an instant it was over. She tasted it first, warm, the flavor of metal on her tongue. Then the smell, like copper in her nostrils. She closed her mouth, her tongue brushing something hard and sharp. Her hands were coated in warm, sticky blood. She spit out the shard and saw it was a piece of bone. She looked at where the guard had been, only a red splatter remained, dying the room crimson. The children stared. Asha's hands were shaking. She was crying, her tears mingling with the blood covering her face. She hadn't even thought about it. It just happened. They had taught her to repair a human body, but that meant she also knew how to destroy it. His sword was embedded in the wall from the force of the explosion. Asha folded in on herself and sobbed uncontrollably.  
She felt a hand on her back. “It's okay. Everything will be okay,” she heard Dianne say.  
“Asha, don't cry,” Will said, hugging her.  
“He was bad!” Felicia added, “you saved us!”  
“I'm sorry,” she cried, “I'm so, so sorry...”  
Flynn looked in at the crying girl surrounded by children, all covered in blood. “Asha... is that you?”  
She looked up at him with wide, distant eyes. “I killed him, Flynn. I... killed him.”  
He didn't know what had happened, but she looked unhurt, and the kids seemed safe. He knelt down in front of her. He pulled the red handkerchief she had given him from his belt and wiped her tears, trying to get rid of as much of the blood as possible in the process. “It's okay, Asha. You did the right thing. You were strong.” It hurt him to say that. He had chosen this life for himself, he was a warrior, killing was necessary. But she was just a girl. An innocent person who never wanted to take a life. He hated seeing her like this. She had been through so much. He looked at the other children. This wasn't all of them. There were a few he didn't recognize, but he knew this wasn't all of the kids that had been captured by Baba. “Where are the others?” he asked her softly.  
“I don't know,” she replied, her tears beginning to stop, “somewhere in the castle, working. They weren't here when all this started.”  
Flynn nodded and stood. “I need to go find them.”  
Asha grabbed his arm. “Flynn, please, don't go! I'm... I'm scared. I can't protect them all!”  
Flynn gritted his teeth. “Asha, I need to make sure they're all safe.” He looked to Demi and his other allies, all standing by the doorway. “Some of us need to stay and keep them safe. And I need to find the rest of the kids.”  
“Fang, Demi and myself should find Rita,” Atlas said, “I'm worried what she might do without a voice of reason.”  
“Kyna, can you watch them?” Demi asked his soldier.  
She frowned. “Demitri, I want to fight. Don't just pawn me off protecting a bunch of kids, I want revenge as much as anyone else!”  
“I'm not pawning you off,” Demi assured her, “But there are few of us, leaving one person as capable as you is better than leaving five. Besides, I have a feeling you'll see your share of battle here. This girl killed a guard, I doubt the others will be happy about that.”  
Kyna clenched her jaw. “Very well. I'll see that they stay alive.”  
“Thank you, Kyna,” Flynn smiled. “Gale, can you come with me?”  
“Sure thing, buddy,” Gale agreed, “two sets of eyes are better than one, we can find all those kids and be back before they know we're gone.”

Once the others were gone Kyna leaned in the doorway and stared out into the hall. The kids were quiet, save the occasional sob. The girl with the purple braids- what was her name? Asha? The one who had killed a guard- was trembling, she seemed to be in shock. Normally Kyna would have just ignored her, but if she was as powerful as this scene seemed to let on, if she was unstable it could be a liability. “Asha, right?” Kyna said, looking at her.  
Asha stared back. She nodded.  
“Why are you shaking like that?”  
Asha stared blankly at her. “I killed a man.”  
Kyna stifled a chuckle. “And you- all of you- are alive because of it. Be thankful for that.”  
“I killed him,” she said again. “He was alive one second, and dead the next, I ended a life!” she was becoming unhinged. Her hands were shaking furiously. “I never... I never wanted to hurt anyone! I just wanted to help people!” the other kids looked scared. Kyna took a last look into the hallway, then approached Asha, kneeling next to her. “Why do these things keep happening!? What did I do!? Please, I just want to go home with my sister and-”  
Kyna slapped her. “Get a hold of yourself,” she said calmly. “You're the oldest one here, you have a duty to these kids. You need to stay calm. You're strong, I can see that in your eyes. We've all been through a lot. More than anyone deserves to go through, but we can't let it break us. You can't sit around and cry all day. You need to stand up and keep moving forward, and if you can hold a sword you have an obligation to save those that can't.”  
“I can't,” Asha said softly, “I'm not a hero like Flynn. I can't protect them.”  
Kyna let herself laugh now. “Sorry to rain on your parade, but there's no such thing as heroes. The only difference between you and him is that he picked up the sword and decided to fight. So you have a choice, sit here and cry, let the kids all die if it comes to it. Or you can pick your ass up and fight for your right to be alive, because right now that's what all of us have to do.”  
Asha clenched her fist, her hands steadied. She stood. She took the hilt of the sword embedded in the wall, the blood on the grip making it slippery. She tore it from the stone in one quick motion. “I can fight... for them. For everyone.”  
Kyna smiled. “Good.” There was a pause. “But maybe don't use an actual sword, you have no experience, that was just a metaphor. I suggest maybe magic?”  
“Ah, right!” Asha said, flustered, dropping the sword.  
Kyna liked this girl. She had a fire in her eyes, you don't see that often in a city of ice.

Rita left a bloody path in her wake, like violent waves dashing bodies against the rocks in a storm. She had heard from the mouth of a man whose neck had been under her foot that Rasputin had taken refuge in the Grand Ballroom once the commotion had started. A wide, open room, no doubt filled with personal guards, he hoped to keep himself safe rather than help his people. The guards at the ballroom door were quickly slammed against the wall without even a word, waves more powerful than a tsunami turning them to a bloody wallpaper on the pale stone of the castle. She pushed open the ballroom doors and was greeted with spearheads. She was ushered into the room, surrounded by guards. They parted to allow the man she could only assume was Rasputin through. His hair and beard were greasy and black, and his bright eyes were a shade she couldn't quite place. He looked tired, worn, but confident.   
“I had a feeling you would come back one day, Princess,” he said to her. “Can you imagine my disappointment when you were nowhere to be found in the castle? Sure, part of me hoped you would die in the wild, but another part of me needed you to come back. Once you're dealt with the Riverwinter line is done for good.” She stared at him. She was memorizing his features. His hooked nose, the lines beneath his eyes, the mole on his right cheek. “But I'm getting ahead of myself. I haven't even introduced myself, have I? I am Rasputin Blackwater, Sapphus's King. Quite headstrong of you to invade my castle like this. As if inviting your own death.” He got closer to her now. She could smell his breath, the oils on his skin, she committed every detail to memory. “Not very talkative, are you? I appreciate that in a woman. And so beautiful. You really are your mother's daughter. The things I would have done to her corpse had it not disappeared into her Sapphire. But you... I'll have fun with you. Younger, still alive. Yes, I'll let you live for awhile. Maybe I won't snuff out the Riverwinter line after all, I'll just make myself a little heir.” The yellow of his teeth, the slimy look of his tongue through his fat, greasy lips. She would never forget his face, not a single detail. Her mother was a good woman, and a great Queen, but even she had been forced to condemn some criminals to death. She had told Rita one day, when she was younger, that when she sentenced someone to death she would look them in the eyes. She never wanted to forget the face of someone whose death she had caused, even if they were a criminal. No matter what they had done she owed them that at least. She would never forget his face.  
“You would like that, wouldn't you Princess?” Rasputin said, placing his hand on her cheek. Her skin was cold as ice, he would have been shocked, but he felt it for only a moment. Had she warmed? No... no, he didn't feel anything. Not in his hand, at least. His wrist, however, was in excruciating pain. He looked down and saw that his hand was gone. Something was wrong- he was bleeding. His hand wasn't reforming. Why was he bleeding!?He took a step back, staring wide-eyed at the stump. Something was wrong, something was very, very wrong! He looked at his guards, none of whom were moving, all just as confused as he was. “Kill her, you idiots!” He screamed. Still, they didn't move. Their heads fell from their bodies. His knees buckled beneath him. He was kneeling before the Queen, staring up at her. Her eyes were cold, terrifying. The air was icy and tendrils of water floated around her, ready to slice off another piece of flesh should he make a wrong move.  
She looked at his bloody stump. She spoke the first words she had said to him. “You still bleed. Good.”

It didn't prove difficult for Atlas, Demi and Fang to find Rita, they just had to follow the trail of blood. Once they entered the room Atlas saw Rita standing over the man he assumed to be Rasputin, surrounded by headless corpses. Her back was to him, but he could feel her fury in the frigid air, and the look of terror on Rasputin's face was telling. “Rita!” Atlas called out. “We finally found you!” She glanced back at them, her eyes like icy daggers piercing the air. Without a motion on her part the water surrounding her created an ice wall between them, they could still see and hear her but they were cut off. “What are you doing?”  
“This is my fight. You three stay out of it.”  
“You don't have to do this alone,” Demi insisted, “It was my family too, my city. Please, let us in.”  
She ignored him and turned to Rasputin. “I have some questions for you.”  
“Yes! Yes, I'll tell you anything you want to know!” He pleaded.  
“You certainly changed your tune quickly,” Rita observed.  
“Pride is not a weakness of mine,” he laughed weakly, “and I know better than to bet everything on a losing team.”  
She glared at him with disgust. “Your powers, how did you get them?”  
“The masked men. The man in the faceless mask,” he replied.  
“Elaborate.”  
“After Charles was killed the rebels all but lost hope, but after most of them had left me the man appeared. He told me that he could give me the power to take the city. In return he wanted me to send my men into the Northern Sea with pieces of Sapphire to find something for him. Of course I accepted his offer.  
“He blinded me with a touch and took me somewhere, I don't know where, but when he allowed me to see again I was in a large, dark, stone room. There were dozens of masked men, they kept talking about some 'God of Darkness'. I've never heard that word 'God' before, but it seemed to be a title for someone named Sharam the Gluttonous, and the way they revered him... more than a King or Queen. They made a pact with him, spilled human blood so that he would grant me a piece of his power. He altered my body, my hair turned black, my eyes changed, and I became immortal, a man made of darkness. At least I thought I was immortal before you cut off my damn hand!”  
“Interesting,” Rita muttered. “Where is the man in the faceless mask now?”   
“I don't know,” Rasputin said, shaking his head, “he left shortly after we took the city, a couple of his masked men stayed behind to keep an eye on me, but I haven't heard from him since.”  
“Well then,” Rita said, ice forming into a scythe in her hand, “I appreciate how open you've been, but your usefulness has come to an end. It's time you paid for your crimes.”  
“Wh-what!?' Rasputin sputtered, “but I told you everything! I betrayed the masked man for you! Let me live, I beg you!”  
“I never promised you anything,” Rita said coldly, “your death was always a certainty. The least you could do is die with some dignity.”  
“Rita!” Atlas yelled, slamming his fists on the glass. “What are you doing!?”  
“Taking back my city,” she hissed.  
“I know you're angry,” Atlas said, “but calm down. Think about this. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to die- believe me, I know he does- but you can't kill him like this. Let him go to trial. The city is yours again, you can sentence him to death, but you need to prove to your people that you are a fair and just ruler, killing him like this is just another hostile takeover.”  
She glared at Atlas, fury in her gaze. “Why are you trying to convince me to spare the man who killed my family!?”  
“I'm not telling you to spare him,” Atlas begged, “but I'm worried. You need to know where your thoughts end and the demon's begin. I know you. You aren't the kind of woman who would kill a man on his knees.”  
Her resolve flickered, Atlas saw a glimmer of fear on her face. Her eyes darted to Demi. He was clenching his fist tightly. He wanted to see Rasputin dead just as much as she did. “Atlas is right,” Demi said through clenched teeth, “let him stand trial.”  
Rita took a deep breath. “Very well, perhaps you're right. He will stand trial.” She turned and looked at Rasputin again, the scythe melting out of her hand. “Rasputin Blackwater, you will see justice for your crimes, so let your trial begin. As Queen of Sapphus I will serve as judge, jury and executioner.”  
Atlas slammed the wall again. “This isn't what I meant!”  
She ignored him. “You are accused of regicide, the slaughter of the King, the Guardian Captain, and countless other nobles. You usurped the throne and under your rule the citizens suffered and died. You will be held responsible for the crimes of every guard who claimed you as their King, and every single death outside of the city walls will be considered a murder by neglect. And I will be counting corpses. How do you plead?”  
“Please, my queen!” he cried, “spare me! I can help you! I'll rebuild the city with you! I'll do anything you ask, just please-”  
“Your time is up,” she interrupted, “you are found guilty on all accounts. Unfortunately, your crimes are unprecedented, so I will need to devise a punishment suitable for them.”  
“I will not die here!” Rasputin screamed, his body diffusing into darkness and expanding. Rita raised her hand and a shower of icy spears rained from the ceiling, tearing through him and pinning him to the ground. He returned to his human form in order to escape the ice, his body was bloody and torn now. “How can you strike me, even in that form!?”  
Rita stepped towards him and placed her hand on his head. The blood began to clot and stopped flowing out. “Can't have you dying before your sentence.” She looked him in the eye. “Are you aware that the human body is composed of about sixty percent water?” He began to twitch. “In your blood, your eyes, your mouth... just about every part of you has water in it somewhere.” he started to writhe, trying to escape, but he was held in place by watery shackles. “How does it feel to have all of the water in your body slowly heat to its boiling point? Maybe you didn't notice at first, but I'm sure you can feel it now. Maybe not inside your body, but your mouth must feel awfully hot. Like soup you should have waited to cool longer. Don't worry, it'll get hotter.”  
His skin was turning red, he was writhing in pain and his face was contorted in agony. He let out a guttural scream, Atlas could see the steam escaping his mouth from the heat of his saliva. “Stop, please, stop!” He begged.  
“Water turns to steam as it boils, you can open your mouth to release some of it, but the blood in your veins will expand more and more until your body tears itself apart to create an escape route for the steam.” The crotch of his trousers darkened and he howled in a fit of agony, his leg moving wildly to try and escape the pain. “Even your urine was boiling, while it was still in your bladder you probably didn't notice, but now that you've left it running down your leg you're looking at third degree burns. “  
“Please... stop,” he pleaded, barely able to speak, his tongue burning away.  
She looked at him without the slightest sympathy. “Did the people you killed to get here ever beg you to stop?” He looked at her with wide, steaming eyes, unable to say another word. “That's what I thought.”  
“Enough!” Atlas growled. “That is enough, Rita!”  
“Shut up!” Rita snapped.  
“Rita...” It was Fang. Rita looked at her. For the first time since they had met Fang looked scared. Rita's eyes sank, her resolve shattering. She turned away, gritting her teeth, a halberd of ice appearing in her hand, she sliced off Rasputin's head in one clean blow, boiling blood erupting out of his body.   
The ice wall crumbled and Rita fell to her knees. Fang ran to her and embraced her. “I tortured him,” she wept, “He begged me to stop. He deserved it, I know he did, but... but I tortured him.”  
Atlas put his hand on her shoulder, “It's okay, Rita. It wasn't you, it was the demon.”  
She looked at him, fear in her eyes. “That's what scares me,” she said, “It wasn't the demon.”

“So how did it go?” Gale asked. He and Flynn had found the rest of the children and were waiting with Kyna, Asha and the kids.   
“Rasputin is dead,” Rita replied. Gale could tell something was wrong, but now wasn't the time to talk about it.  
“So what now?” Flynn asked.  
“We should spend the rest of the night clearing the castle,” Rita said, “capture any remaining guards and clean things up. Demi, if you could, send some of your soldiers to tell the townspeople to gather at the castle tomorrow, I want to address them. All of them, even those outside the wall. We've lost many under Rasputin's rule, perhaps we could find homes for them.”  
Demitri bowed. “As you command, my Queen.”  
Rita smiled. “You're my cousin, Demi, please just call me Rita.”  
Demi smiled back. “Alright, Rita.”  
After Rita had been caught up on what had happened while she was gone they dispersed to clear the castle. It was a busy night but their spirits were high. Come the morning Rita stood on the castle balcony to address her people, gussied up in the guise of a Queen. She still felt out of place in the dress and the make-up, but it was what her people expected to see. Perhaps she would do away with that particular bit of tradition eventually, but for now her people deserved to see the Queen as they imagined her. She looked at them all, so many were ragged, tired, hungry and cold. It hurt her to see them like this, but every single one of them looked at her with hope in their eyes, a glimmer that gave her hope herself. She spoke out to them, loud and clear.  
“Rasputin is dead.” A cheer filled the air. “You have all endured so much under his rule. Lost so much. But still you endured. Through the cold, the hunger, the abuse, you all endured. And we will honor those who fell by living on. The people of Sapphus are strong like the ice we build our lives on, but we do not crack under pressure, we persevere like the water that lines our shores, and we will rebuild our city! Never again will our own freeze and starve beyond our walls!” Another cheer. She took a breath. “The men that gave Rasputin his unnatural power seek to destroy the Sapphire, as well as the stones of every other city. They wish to destroy our way of life, our very world. But I promise you all I will not let that happen. Rasputin is far from the only evil in this world. My allies and I are currently journeying to find a way to stop these men, and that is a quest I cannot abandon. I'm sorry I cannot be here to help you through the tough times that are to come, but I promise you I will return as soon as I can. In my absence I will leave you all a very capable leader. While I'm gone Demitri Riverwinter will serve as King, a man who I'm sure you all know is more than capable of rebuilding this city with all of you.” There was a silence over the crowd. She knew they would be unhappy she was leaving again, but she couldn't stay here when the masked men were still out there. If she didn't stop them who was to say they wouldn't return? “Thank you all for your time.”

“What in the world are you talking about!?” Demitri exclaimed once she was back in the castle. “You think maybe you should tell me before you put me in charge of a city!?”  
“Who else could do it?” Rita smiled.  
“Rita, they won't follow me, they need a Queen!” Demi insisted, “I'm just a nerd, I'm not a leader!”  
Rita looked at him and laughed. “You're underestimating yourself, you realize you've been leading these people for a year, right? You led a rebellion while I was gone, the people trust you, they believe in you, probably more than they believe in me. You've been with them this whole time. And I know you're plenty capable.”  
He frowned. She knew that face, he knew she was right. “Sapphus has never been ruled by a man before, save for Rasputin, and we all know how that went.”  
“Well a Princess had never left the city before either,” Rita replied, “I'm not really one for tradition.” He looked at her desperately. “I'm sorry to do this to you, I really am, but you know I have to go. I'll be back as soon as I can. Until then... Demi, you grew up in the slums, if there is anyone who I know is going to look after the people of this city and their best interest, it's you.”  
Demi sighed. “I just wish you didn't have to go,” he smiled.  
“Me too,” Rita said, hugging him. “You should start naming new Guardians soon, we'll need people we trust with Sapphires.”  
“Agreed,” Demi nodded.  
“I suggest Kyna for your father's old position,” Rita said, “she's strong and responsible. Almost reminds me of Uncle Vlad but without a beard.”  
Demi laughed. “I was about to say the same thing.”  
“And if she'd accept it,” Rita continued, more somber now, “I'd gladly have that young orphan, Asha, as a Guardian as well. I'm not sure it's what she'd want, but she's a gifted mage and she's determined. She's proved herself more than worthy. Don't force it on her, but offer her a Sapphire, even if we only keep her on as a healer she would be an asset.”  
Demi nodded. “I'll talk to her about it.”  
Rita sighed. “It's strange to be back in the castle. As a child this place felt like a prison to me, but now that I've been gone so long it feels like home.”  
“I know what you mean,” Demi agreed, “I used to dread hearing my father coming down the stairs to my workshop, but now I miss the sound of him yelling at me. It was the only way he knew to show he cared.”  
“Remember the time we took Vlad's belt and cut it up to use the leather for one of our silly little science projects?” Rita asked.  
“And your dad knew we took it, but he said he wouldn't tell,” Demi smiled.  
“And Vlad requested an audience with the Queen to find the thief in the castle,” Rita began to laugh.  
“And his pants fell down in front of your mom and all the nobles!” Demi chuckled.  
The two laughed for a time, then calmed and looked at each other. “I've missed you, Demi.”  
“Same to you, Rita.”  
“I'll be back before you know it,” Rita grinned, “Don't break my city while I'm gone.”  
“Aye aye, captain,” Demi joked, bowing.  
For just a moment Rita forgot all the terrors that she had been through. She was just glad to see her cousin's smile. She saw her mother in his purple eyes and pale blue hair. She wouldn't be able to stay long this time... but she was home.


End file.
